Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-145

The sentries of the city of Roscianum were still waiting for their cavalry to return, and the noise at the camp of Crotone seemed to have disappeared. Out of doubt, the captain himself had led ten cavalry out of the city from the south gate, crossed the pontoon bridge, and went westward through the forest. Everything was still the same*, until they reached around the bank of the Trionto river and climbed up the high slope. What appeared in front of them was a shocking scene. In the vast flat land where the Crotonians had camped, was a mess of collapsed tents, scattered weapons, horses and animals that are running wildly, and what was more terrible was the dense number of corpses, and the seriously wounded soldiers struggling in pain, and the bright red land stained with blood. In the middle of the camp, were many heavily armed soldiers, who have surrounded a huge number of people that were not well dressed, and kept their encirclement, then they escorted a row of captives that have their hands bound…. (note: Arpenst' peltast had already hidden the bodies of the previous scouts and removed the traces.)

A tremendous fear gripped the heart of the captain, ‘The Crotonians were defeated?!!!’

The captain quickly turned his horse around and galloped towards the city of Roscianum, while these terrible and strange enemies have still not notice them…

“Legatus, the cavalry of Roscianum has returned to their city.” Ledes came to report.

“Asistes, inform the 7th brigade and the Lucanian brigade to set an ambush in the woods. The city of Roscianum will probably…no, it should be Melanseus who will give us a great gift! Ledes, you keep a close watch on the city of Roscianum!” Davos gave the order.

“Roger!” Ledes followed Davos order and Asistes then sent a herald to the north.

After a while, Davos then ordered Asistes again, “How long has it been since a cavalry been sent to Mersis?”

“About half an hour…Legatus, there are too many goods in the logistic area! Since some of the animals were injured and some have even scattered during the attack, and we are short of beasts of burden to carry the supplies.” Said Asistes, slightly worried.

Davos smiled and pointed to the prisoners, who are not far away, crouching on the ground under the pressure of spears and swords, “Aren't they already a ready-made ‘beast of burden’? It doesn't matter if they walk slowly, as it will also consume their strength. Anyway, these Crotonians who have trained competitively for a long time can still be useful.”

“Ah! Why didn't I thought about that! Legatus, you always come up with great idea!” Exclaimed Asistes and praised him.

“Asi, if only your ability to handle things is as good or better as your ability to flatter!” After the great victory, Davos was also in a good mood, and so he joked around with Asistes for a while, and then said, “Let's go and see the soldiers. They are the heroes of this victory.”

In the distance, a glittering flag was slowly approaching, and a strategos wearing a distinctive helmet with a purple, white, and red crest appeared on the battlefield, and those cruel and ruthless enemies immediately gave out thunderous cheers, and so, the gazes of the captives were filled with horror and sorrow.

“Davos!!”

“Davos!!”

“Victory!!”

“Victory!!”

The clever men among the captives had immediately thought that this strategos was probably the Archon of Amendolara whom they had insulted, and these enemies were the owners of the buildings that they had burned. At that time, they had laughed at the cowardice of the citizens of Amendolara, but now they are shaking under the spears of these “timid” enemies…

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, was shocked by the emergency news from the captain of the city defense, and immediately sent someone to inform Melanseus and his subordinates.

Melanseus was sleeping in a guest house with a high-class prostitute in his arms, but he was then forcefully awakened and so, he was extremely dissatisfied. But after hearing the anxious report from his subordinate, he manage to immediately wake up. Then said, “Maybe the enemy had broken into our camp and was captured by our soldiers…”

Timaras shook his head with great concern, “The Roscianum had said, ‘although the flags held by the heavily armed soldiers are blurry from a distance, but it is not the flag of Crotone because of its peculiar shape and style!’ Melanseus, we have to rescue them!”

“…ah…ah, you're right, you are right…” Melanseus has never expected that they would suddenly get attack while they were complacent about returning home triumphantly. He was unable to stop himself from getting flustered, “Come! Come with me and find Amikles and ask him to send out all the citizens of Roscianum together with us in order to rescue them!”

Amikles, naturally, could not completely agree with Melanseus, as he must first ensure the safety of Roscianum, but he did not dare to offend Crotone by refusing the request of Melanseus. Moreover, some of the soldiers of Roscianum were also trapped in the camp, and so, he hastily assembled 700 citizen soldiers and were led by Melanseus and his subordinates, to rescue the captives.

Melanseus hastily marched towards the camp, while Timaras had advised him to be cautious, but he said, “According to the information of the Roscianum, the number of the enemy is smaller than us, and they have estimated that the reason they manage to win is because they did a sneak attack. Now that they are still in the same place and want to turn our soldiers into captives, our sudden attack will certainly surprise them. At the same time, it will also arouse the resistance of the soldiers who have surrendered. The enemy will instead be defeated by us! I will make these thugs who have the audacity to attack Crotone pay a heavy price!” Melanseus is like a gambler who had his eyes turned red, and was looking forward to his last big bet, in order to win back all his previous losses.

When his troops passed through the forest in a marching column, they were suddenly got attack by the peltast of Amendolara who were lying in ambush. Epiphanes led the peltast to rain down arrows, stones and javelins at them, causing a lot of casualties. While the soldiers of Roscianum was in a state of panic, the Lucanians rushed into the enemy line with a Greek kopis like a tiger attacking a sheep…

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Legatus, the reinforcements of Crotone has been defeated! With the few exceptions who had managed to escape back to Roscianum, the others were either killed or captured!” Ledes rushed back to report it excitedly.

Davos nodded, without feeling much joy, as this was a well prepared ambush, so victory is already assured.

Seeing the calm expression on Davos face, Ledes added, “The Lucanians have also managed to capture two high-ranking officers of Crotone, Melanseus and Timaras!”

“Oh!” Davos smiles, but not because they manage to capture the enemy's high-ranking officers, “The Lucanians have made a great contributions, so their sentence will be reduced by half a year.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When the Lucanians cut into the Roscianum's ranks, Melanseus' many years of military experience have told him that failure was inevitable.

So he immediately turned around and raw away. However, the Lucanians seemed to recognize him, and after paying several casualties, they manage to push him down and dragged him to Davos.

“Melanseus, we finally meet.” A gentle young voice sounded in his ears.

Melanseus struggled to raise his head. His handsome face was scarred by the sand and stone that were along the way as he got dragged. His vision was blurred by blood, he blinked his eyes hard. Then an unfamiliar young face appeared in front of him.

“Who…are you?”

“The archon of Amendolara, Davos.”

“Amendolara? Davos?” Melanseus, who had his head repeatedly hit before, was a bit slow to respond, and suddenly, his eyes widened, “Amendolara?! Amendolara!! You are despicable to sneakily attack us without declaring war! You have violated the tradition of the Greek city-state and defiled the honor of the Greeks. The Greek city-states of Magna Graecia will punish Amendolara!”

“Champion of the Olympics, aren't you too conceited?!” sneered Davos, “The war had already started when your troops entered the territory of Amendolara without permission and burned our buildings. As for the sneak attack, I vaguely remember that an athlete's maxim is ‘the winner proves his strength by his actions, and the loser can only conceal his weakness with excuses.’ I am not sure if I am right?”

Melanseus bowed his head and said in a low voice, “I hope that you will treat me and the soldiers well. Crotone will pay Amendolara enough ransom.”

“It isn't me that will decide whether you will get treated welll.”

“Then…who?”

“The surviving people of Thurii!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Mersis arrived at the camp of Crotone, he saw the mountains of spoils and burst into laughter. But he soon got upset, because these loaded carts couldn't cross the river.

Davos then said with confidence, “It's simple, we cross the river by the fording place.”

Therefore, after the soldiers and the people of Amendolara have cleaned up all the valuable things in the camp of Crotone (including weapons, armors, and linen shirts worn by the dead enemy), formed a long line heading east, through the forest, and can be seen in the city of Roscianum on the north bank of the Trionto river.

Davos could even hear the panicked voices of the enemy who were at the top of the city wall. So he jokingly said to Mersis, “Didn't you say that we don't have enough beasts of burden? You can go and borrow some from the Roscianums”

Mersis did indeed sent people to borrow some beast of burdens.

At the top of the city wall, the polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, and the others watched the heavily armed Greek infantry march on the south bank of the Trionto river with their spears and shields. And under the escort of their spears and shields, were prisoners who were dejected, stained with blood, carrying heavy things and faltering, as well as jubilant people in civilian clothing and the logistic camp full of items…the long line bypassed the city and went straight to the boats. The expression of every Roscianum were tense and puzzled, but there was no anger nor greed, because most of the citizens of Roscianum have lost half of their numbers. Now that they don't even have enough troops for defending the city, how could they even dare to provoke this terrible army.

“They…where did they came from?” One member of the council asked nervously.

Amikles looked at the direction where they are marching, and said with uncertainty, “They are heading north, they are probably…from Amendolara.”

“The mercenaries who have defeated the Lucanians?!” The strategos Gorkes' eyes widened.

“Very likely!” Said Amikles to Gorkes, and Amikles strengthened his speculation, “Maybe only they could dare to defeat the powerful Crotonians!”

“They…they have sent someone!” Someone shouted with a trembling voice.

The people on the top of the city wall, from the soldiers to the strategoi, had all became nervous.

“We are citizens of Amendolara. The archon, Davos, has asked me to borrow a hundred beast of burden from you. We will return them back after we have finished our transportation!”

The voice of the one that had come to the city was clear, then everyone looked at each other.

Davos! The hero in the rumor who had saved Thurii! The Archon of Amendolara! Amikles could only smile bitterly. This is the second time that Davos has saved Thurii, but it has also made Roscianum suffer.

In the top of the city wall of Roscianum, the strategoi and the council member agreed after a brief discussion. It wasn't because of Davos good reputation in keeping his promise, but in the words of Amikles, ‘The situation in the northern part of Magna Graecia is bound to change greatly because of the destruction and capturing of the huge army of Crotone by the Amendolarans. So we need to act carefully, and what is more, many of our citizens might have become the captives of Amendolara, and leaving a good impression on them, might make us be able to negotiate with them in the future.’

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the early morning, a few people of Thurii who had already woken up, saw the people of Amendolara who had rescued them have gathered together and began to cross the pontoon bridge and head south. They were surprised and uneasy, ‘Are the Amendolarans going to leave us?’

At noon, all the people of Thurii, and some of the freeman and slaves have woken up in front of an empty camp, their helplessness and despair reached the utmost point. Then they prostrated on the ground and crying, because the words of Cornelius, Stromboli and other few people have persuaded them that ‘Amendolara had went to war with the army of Crotone and has won’ this is totally unbelievable, and even those who are overly emotional have sweared.

At this time, someone yelled in horror, “Look! Look! An army is coming!”

They all look back in a hurry, then the people of Thurii saw a majestic army, led by a strange flag that they had never seen before, crossing the pontoon bridge with vigorous steps and marching towards their direction.

“That's our army! The army of Amendolara! They are back victoriously!” Cornelius, the Praetor of the city of Amendolara, who had not approved the war with Crotone at the previous council meeting, although the resolution was passed, he still has a hidden uneasiness. But at this moment, he cheered like a child.

Kunogelata looked at the approaching army of Amendolara, and there was only one thing in his mind, “The Amendolarans have won! They won!! They have defeated the powerful army of Crotone!!!”

The people of Thurii were skeptical.

But soon, when the troops at the front stepped on the north bank of the Crati river and approached them, they could see that it was the young and gentle archon of Amendolara who was walking at the head of the army and was under that peculiar flag! At this moment, he is fully armed, but not wearing a helmet, and was waving at them with a smile. The hot sun reflected from his shining armor as it emitted the most dazzling light like a god.

At this time, some people with sharp eyes noticed that behind Davos was a person walking with his hands tied on his back, naked and being led, and once he walked slowly, the guard with a spear will leave a wound on his body. Why does this man look like Melanseus, the demon who ordered the burning of Thurii?! Did the army of Crotone really got defeated by Amendolara?!!

There is no doubt about it, because behind the vanguard troops, they saw soldiers of Amendolara holding spears and escorting young men with heavy loads that were all naked and faltering along the way. The troops stretches all the way to the south with no end in sight…

Looking at this incredible spectacle, the people of Thurii burst into tears. They cried, laughed and screamed, and threw rubble at the soldiers of Crotone. Some even went to fight them like lunatics….

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Standing on a makeshift wooden stage. Davos looked at the people of Thurii who quickly came together with the old and the young. He said with a solemn, but passionate loud voice, “People of Thurii, in these days, the Crotonians had occupied your homes. You have lost your loved ones and your homes, and you have cried helplessly on its ruins! But the gods have not forsaken you. He has made your neighbor, the brave Amendolara, not afraid of the strong enemy and defeat the demons that have destroyed Thurii! The gods have also asked the kind people of Amendolara to help you with what you need, food and clothing! The night will pass and the light will shine in front of you! Although you have no home, we can build a more comfortable house! You have no city, we can rebuild a stronger city! You have no temple, we can rebuild a more magnificent temple! People of Thurii, wipe your tears, lift your chest and join hands with the people of Amendolara and together, we will build a much beautiful home and build a city-state free from foreign invasion!”

The people of Thurii have once again burst into tears. They cheered and worshipped, the hero Davos, who had saved Thurii twice, as if he was a god.

Davos gave his order, ‘the captured senior officers headed by Melanseus and Timaras will be put on the wooden stage, and their life and death will be decided by the people of Thurii.’

The cheers of the people of Thurii reached its peak. They rushed forward, venting their anger with stones, stick, fist and teeth. Soon the Crotonians have become bloody and miserable, but the people of Thurii did not stop, even though the enemy had fallen to the ground and was dying.…

Watching this bloody scene, Ansitanos could only sigh, “From now on, I am afraid that Thurii will be different…”

Kunogelata then pointed to Davos, who was standing on the side of the wooden stage, watching the execution and said with a dignified expression, “It is not that I am afraid, but that Thurii will certainly change!”

Ansitanos was silent…

This conclude this volume. If you want to know how Davos will resettle the people of Thurii who had lost their homes, and whether he would take the Sybaris into his pocket, and the impact of this great victory on Magna Graecia and whether the defeated Crotonians would start a greater war….then stay tune for the next volume: Theonia's City-State Union