Camp Construction

Kteippos looked left and right, wanting to say something more, but a glance at Matonis’s face made him wisely shut his mouth. He knew that when Matonis, the platoon leader, got really angry, he would actually beat people with his fists; of course, his protective nature toward his own men was also famous throughout the army. Frustrated, Kteippos raised his tool and slammed it hard into the ground…

Matonis couldn’t be bothered with him anymore. He picked up a wooden basket full of dirt, climbed the ladder to ground level, and dumped the soil onto the earthen rampart being built inside the ditch. He checked his platoon’s progress—it was going fairly well—but when he saw how Olivus’s platoon was doing, he started to worry. Standing at the edge of the ditch, he shouted loudly: “Brothers, put in some extra effort! Let’s try to be the first to finish this time and earn the reward the leader promised! If anyone slacks off and holds us back, I won’t let him off easy, understand?!”

“Roar!” The veterans howled, while most of the new recruits responded halfheartedly…

…

“Leader, for this camp construction, we not only have to dig ditches, build earthen walls, and erect watchtowers, but also add wooden palisades on top of the earthen walls, build walkways behind the palisades, dig pits in front of the ditch, and plant sharpened stakes… Isn’t this camp requirement too complicated? And the workload is much heavier than before. The soldiers are complaining—is all this really necessary?!” Asiastes asked in confusion.

Davos, while keeping an eye on the camp construction progress, replied firmly: “Of course it’s necessary! Bourkos said the Lucanians who attacked Thurii last year had at least ten thousand warriors! Unlike Thurii, we don’t have tall, thick city walls to protect us. If we don’t build a defensively sound camp, can we withstand an attack from the Lucanians? And if we’re besieged by the Lucanians, do you think the Thurians will come to rescue us mercenaries?!”

Asiastes shook his head.

“So building a camp this complex is tiring, yes, but once it’s done, the soldiers will feel secure resting and sleeping inside, and the enemy won’t be able to do anything to us! Besides, we don’t have to finish it in one day—we can do it over several days.” Seeing Asiastes’s expression turn clear, Davos continued: “Earlier, didn’t I tell you to gather the soldiers who worked as carpenters and form an engineering unit? Let them lead the soldiers in figuring out how to build the palisades, watchtowers, and walkways. With this experience, we can follow the same procedure when building camps in the future.”

Asiastes said sincerely: “Leader, you’ve thought of everything!”

Davos smiled. This was nothing more than an effective method the Roman army had developed through centuries of warfare. He was simply borrowing it directly and pushing it through forcefully. He hoped that the military tradition of the Roman legions—“wherever you go, first build a strong camp”—would become a habit for his own army.

“Leader, Philistos is back.” Asiastes spotted Philistos approaching from the north.

Davos hurried over to meet him and asked, “How was it?”

“Bourkos was right. About a dozen li north, there’s a small river with wooded hills on the other side.”

“Is it easy to cross the river?”

“The water is very shallow, but we spotted some Lucanian scouts. According to a guide, they might be from the town of Amendolara.”

This news made Davos ponder for a moment. Then he made a decisive call: “Bourkos said that this only Lucanian force still left north of Thurii isn’t large. I’ll give you five hundred soldiers and a hundred strong slaves. Lead them to those wooded hills. Have some of them cut timber, while the others stand guard. If possible, scout a bit further north to see what the area around Amendolara is like.”

“All right.”

On a large rock about a hundred meters from Davos’s camp, Drakos and two other leaders were standing and watching.

“What the hell are these guys trying to do? Does a camp need to be this complicated?! This isn’t building a camp—this is building a city! Do the Thurians even allow them to do this?!” one leader sneered.

“Adrianx, you have to admit: If such a complex fortification is completed, it will be very difficult for the Lucanians to attack! On the other hand, look at our camp—it seems pretty shabby in comparison! According to the Thurians, the Lucanians are gathering their forces at Laüs. Once they march south in full force, we’ll probably be the first to suffer. Shouldn’t we consider reinforcing our camp?” another leader suggested.

“Sestas, you know how our soldiers are. They’re eager enough when it comes to asking for money, but when it’s time to work, they all slack off and cheat!” Adrianx said helplessly.

“That’s exactly what’s so strange,” Sestas said, pointing at the soldiers in the distance who were working with great enthusiasm. “They don’t act like mercenaries at all. Even the citizen-soldiers of some city-states aren’t as good as them. They almost have a Spartan style! But earlier I heard their accents—Thessaly, Rhodes, Thrace, Crete, Chersonese, Chios… they come from all over, just like ours! So why are they so different?!”

“Don’t overthink it. Even though we fought them, they bear us no ill will and even offered to help treat our wounded. Let’s just not provoke them from now on. Besides, having such a strong force nearby is a good thing—it gives us peace of mind!” Adrianx said with a sigh, then jumped off the rock. “Let’s go. Don’t stand here too long, or they might think we’re up to something.”

Adrianx felt the dreadfulness of this mercenary army and instinctively wanted to keep his distance.

“I still think we should try to get our soldiers to reinforce the camp’s defenses,” Sestas said as he also jumped down.

“Fine, let’s go and talk to the soldiers about it.” Adrianx shrugged helplessly, took a few steps, then remembered something and called back, “Drakos, let’s go!”

Drakos grinned—the movement made his swollen chin ache. He gave Davos’s camp a long look, then followed the other two.

Not long after they returned to their camp, the treated wounded came back as well. From their accounts, these mercenaries—mostly from Ionia and Asia Minor (since Bourkos had recruited them in Miletus)—learned that the men they had fought were actually the Greek mercenaries who had marched with Cyrus the Younger against Persia! It turned out that after Davos and his men reached the Euxine Sea, merchants and sailors from the coastal cities, when trading in mainland Greece, Asia Minor, and Ionia, had spread exaggerated and embellished tales of the Greek mercenaries’ exploits in Persia in taverns and inns. By the time Davos and his men were marching along the Euxine coast, their reputation had already spread across Ionia. Many mercenaries learned of their hardships but envied their experiences, regarding them as heroes—after all, no Greek army had ever penetrated so deep into the heart of Persia before.

Now that they discovered the men who had beaten them up were part of that Persian expeditionary force, the mercenaries’ resentment didn’t just disappear—it turned into genuine awe. No wonder they were such fierce fighters. They were Greek mercenaries back from the Persian expedition, and now they were right beside them!

Unable to contain their excitement, the soldiers ignored their leaders’ objections and poured out of the camp gates, running toward Davos’s camp, eager to hear the heroes personally recount their experiences in Persia…