Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-174

For the Amendolaran statesmen like Scambras, they felt that this is nothing compared with the calamity of getting imprisoned for half a year.

Only the statesmen of Thurii who listened to the howling of all kinds of wild animals in the mountain and thinking about the insects and ants that drills out of the soil have their hair stands on end. However, the Archon had taken the lead in sleeping on the ground wrapped in a woolen blanket. They toss and turn, but found it hard to fall asleep. Then they heard the voice of the Lucanian statesman, Vespa, “Milord, I…I would like to ask…now that we had taken Nerulum, does our Union intend to continue our attack northward?”

His voice, though small, was very clear in the dark.

The Thurian statesmen, who couldn't sleep, couldn't stop from saying, “Capturing Nerulum is to prevent the Lucanians from attacking Thurii, and it's impossible to attack the north. You see, the mountain road is so difficult to trek which will make it very difficult to transport food. In addition, we are not familiar with the terrain in the north. The mountains are rugged and uneven, so our hoplites can't be deployed and it is easy to be ambushed by the Lucanians. I don't want to see the…tragedy of the army of Thurii being wiped out by the Lucanians…be repeated…”

Listening to the voice of the statesman, Davos recognized that it was Enanilus. His family was famous for its shipbuilding, and he once owned two shipyards in the port of Thurii and could skillfully build a Trireme. Unfortunately, it was completely damaged when the Crotonians burned the city. Now, the shipyard is currently being rebuilt. One of his younger brothers had died in the battle when the army of Thurii attacked Laos.

“Enanilus is right. We are not ready to attack the north. We currently need to have a firm foothold in Nerulum first. Then we need to let the Lucanians of Nerulum to gradually integrate into the Union, and we need to let more Lucanian tribes in the north to acknowledge our Union. All these will take time.”

What Davos had said made Vespa feel relieved. He was afraid that Davos would be impulsive after taking Nerulum and would continue to attack northward. Then his tribe would have been the one in the lead, and their losses would have been heavy.

However, Enanilus understood the meaning of the words of Davos, “Milord, listening to what you had just said. Are we going to attack the Lucanian region north of Nerulum in the future?”

“Of course. When the news of victory got transmitted back to Thurii, didn't you all shouted to defeat all the Lucanians? I even remember someone had said to even take Poseidonia!” Said Davos smilingly.

“That's what I had said.” Another voice sounded, and through the bonfire, Davos recognized the one who had spoken was Marsyas.

Marsyas sat up next to Enanilus and said with embarrassment, “At that time, it was on impulse. After trekking this road today, I now know why the army of Thurii…their annihilation was not only due to the negligence of the commander, but also related to the bad environment here…” The family of Marsyas made a fortune by mining. Before Crotone attacked Thurii, his family had more than a thousand mining slave, and were contracted by the city-state to quarry. After the end of the war, they only have no more than 50 slaves left. Now, they mainly undertake the grinding and carving work of some stone materials in the temples, the Senate Hall, and the Grand Square.

Davos noticed that most of the statesmen have woken up and gathered around, so he said with seriousness, “What impulse? Why can't we attack the north and take Poseidonia and Pyxous?! We need to have our own port city on the west coast, after all, Laos is only our ally. With them our maritime trade will be more convenient and the revenue of our treasury will be greatly increased. Pyxous and Poseidonia also have better ports, but because of the ethnic relationship, the Lucanians did not put it to good use, but our Union can easily do it. Isn't that right, Lord Enanilus?”

“Yes, Lord Davos. But….” Enanilus was still hesitant to say whether this would be too risky.

Davos then turned his head to Vespa, “I heard that there are a few small iron mines in the Lucania region, right?”

“Indeed, there are. They are mainly distributed in the mountains between Potentia and Grumentum.” Vespa then added with pride, “That is why the Lucanians can make armors and short swords, and are not like those Bruttians who only have crude spears.”

“If there are iron ores, then there may be other minerals, such as copper, tin, lead…that we might discover in the future, coupled with the wood, fur, livestock and so on., with these, the Lucanian mountains also contain great wealth, isn't that right? Marsyas.” The night has covered the meaningful smile on the face of Davos.

“Y…yes!” Marsyas' voice became a bit agitated.

“The most important thing is that we, Greeks, love the sea so much that as a result, we have built our cities along the coastline, which, although beneficial to the acquisition of the wealth in the sea, are also vulnerable to an attack and not good in defense. The Union should vigorously advance inland, expand our living space and integrate with Lucania. In this way, even in the event of a very strong enemy invasion and we couldn't defend the coastal city, we can still retreat to the mountains. With the Lucanian citizens as the backing, the mountain area is our home. We can attack any enemy who dares to attack the mountain area rashly, and finally defeat the powerful enemy!”

At the end of Davos' warning words, there was no one to respond. Only a rapid breathing could be heard, and finally, after a long time, someone asked, “Milord, do you think that we will encounter a strong enemy?”

“Currently, isn't Crotone a powerful enemy? A hundred years ago, Sybaris was powerful in Magna Graecia, didn't they also attract the enemies’ attack?! Didn't the powerful Athens also suffer the attack of the Peloponnesian alliance?! When a city-state is strong, other cities will try their best to hinder its development or even overthrow it, either because of fear or because they have challenged its status! This is a troubled time, so we must try our best to strengthen ourselves, or we will be like the former Thurii, the defeat in a battle will make it decline….”

The people around him, especially the statesmen of Thurii, were lost in thoughts….

“Why don't we attack Grumentum now?! We all know that there was a battle between Grumentum and Pyxous, and both sides have suffered heavy losses. Now is a good opportunity to attack it!” When Scambras accepted the ideas of Davos, he immediately became a bit radical.

“If two brothers in a family are fighting, and an outsider comes in and steals things. Do you think the two brothers will continue to fight, or will they join forces to kill the outsider first?” Asked Davos.

“You mean our attack will make the Lucanians unite against us?” Scambras responded immediately.

“Yes, it is very likely!”

“But we have already entered the home of the Lucanians!” Protesilaus used this metaphor and continued.

Davos replied calmly, “Yes, but we can tell them, ‘we are retaliating for what they have stolen from us last time, and we will only take that and won't take more. We can also sign an agreement with them to stop stealing within a certain period of time, as long as we have Nerulum, it is enough.’ Even if they have doubts, they will choose to believe it, because compared with the Greeks, who are not very interested in the harsh mountainous areas, their hostile cousins are more threatening. Once defeated, the whole tribe will be swallowed up and their families will become slaves. In order to defeat the opponent early and concentrate on driving us away, what will they do?”

Protesilaus' eyes lit up and said loudly, “The battle between them will become more intense!”

“In this way, there will be more tribes in Lucania who will become poor because of the war….” When Davos said this, he thought of something and said apologetically, “Lord Vespa, I hope you can understand me.”

With a bitter look on his face, he could only shake his head bitterly and said in a low voice, “It's common to have wars among tribes here.”

“Yes, these weak tribes had no choice before, but now they have. On the one hand, to win the war, the big tribe will ferociously exploit them. On the other hand is Nerulum with its peaceful life, who they will choose is obvious.” Davos sincerely asked Vespa, “In order to unify Lucania as soon as possible, so that this mountain region will no longer kill each other, I hope that Lord Vespa, after you arrive at Nerulum, you can walk among the tribes and tell them that our Union is friendly to the Lucanians, in order for them to understand us and are more willing to join us….”

Vespa was silent for a moment and squeezed out a sentence, “I'll try my best!”

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

At noon the next day, the group finally walked out of the mountain road and arrived at the Lao Fortress.

After carefully inspecting the situation of the Lao Fortress, Davos praised the soldiers of the first centuria of the second brigade for being able to defend the Lao Fortress with diligence and had completed the final defense mission, and announced that at the end of his visit to Nerulum and returning to the fortress, they can then return to Thurii with him and be at the front of the ranks in a triumphant fashion.

The soldiers cheered in unison.

After hearing this, the soldiers of the first brigade murmured with a bit of indignation, “A bunch of recruits…they are just lucky. If we were not guarding Thurii….”

Although the first brigade's soldiers complained, it did not prevent them from marching northward.

At present, the area that they can pass through is much more spacious, about a kilo-meter wide. There are mountains to the east, and the Lao river to the west. The river surface of Lao river is not wide. However, most of the cliffs on both sides of the river have large water drops and deep water channels, so it is difficult for large troops to reach the opposite bank.

Heracleides the Younger looked at the terrain throughout the way, he shook his head and sighed, “I am afraid that it is very difficult to build a bridge on the upper reaches of the Lao river!”