Investigation (Part 1)

“The reason Asikulodox failed was because he led his army to attack Laüs. Due to unfamiliarity with the terrain, his troops were ambushed on a mountain path, leading to a disastrous defeat. If it were on our Thurii plains, in a face-to-face confrontation, how could the poorly equipped and loosely organized Lucanian mountaineers be a match for Greek heavy infantry? Even with fewer numbers, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Kynogoratas retorted.

“Pheresis, we cannot afford to drag this war out. If we hide inside the city and let the enemy trample our fields, burn our villages, fisheries, and mines again, while every month we have to convene the citizen assembly to discuss whether to levy a war tax just to pay the mercenaries’ wages and provisions—I don’t think the citizens will agree!” Neorxis also stepped forward and said.

“Of course the citizens won’t agree! Pheresis, the citizens elected you as chief general because they believed you had the ability to quickly turn the tide, drive out the Lucanians, and ensure Thurii’s safety—just as you did right after taking office, immediately sending Bourkos out to recruit soldiers and dispatching envoys to Tarentum for aid. Now that a strong relief force has arrived, you can no longer hesitate, sitting by and watching citizens’ property be destroyed and Thurii’s treasury collapse. You must make a decision as soon as possible and not disappoint the people’s expectations!” Polyxides, who had remained silent until now, also spoke up.

Bourkos hadn’t expected Polyxides to join the ranks pressuring Pheresis. As he grew anxious, Kynogoratas noticed him retreating into a corner. Remembering something, he ordered the guards to escort Bourkos out of the council hall on the grounds that “this is an important military meeting involving city-state secrets; unrelated persons should voluntarily withdraw.”

Bourkos stood on the steps of the council hall, dazed for a while. Rationally, he felt he should trust Pheresis’s judgment. After all, compared to the other generals who had long enjoyed peace and had no war experience, the over-sixty-year-old Pheresis had participated in the war against Tarentum in his youth, successively serving as a heavy infantry company commander and battalion commander, with relatively rich combat experience. But emotionally, he also hoped to quickly defeat the fearsome Lucanians, because every citizen of Thurii wanted these bandits far from their homeland. At the same time, Davos’s troops gave him confidence.

Driven by this conflicted state of mind, he subconsciously walked toward the harbor. After a while, he stopped. Although the generals in the council hall had accepted the agreement he had signed, frequent contact with Davos’s company might invite criticism. He sighed, turned around, and went home...

Davos, of course, knew nothing of the dispute targeting them in Thurii’s council hall. Although he found it strange that Bourkos, who had promised to come as soon as he reported to Thurii’s generals, had still not appeared, Davos’s main focus was on building the camp.

In the past few days, all the soldiers worked together, and the Thurii camp had begun to take shape. Just then, Bourkos sent a subordinate with four horses, saying they were for his use.

Davos had already sensed the deliberate distancing by Bourkos and the Thurii leadership, but he didn’t take it to heart. After all, when their company had passed through many Greek city-states along the Euxine Sea coast, those city-states had treated mercenaries the same way. Such was the plight of mercenaries.

He asked Bourkos’s subordinate to convey his thanks to Bourkos. Then he had Philistos stay behind to manage camp affairs, while he himself, along with Asiastes, Laedes, and a trusted slave of Bourkos acting as a guide, rode out to survey the area around Thurii to understand the terrain.

The flat and fertile Sybaris Plain (some Thurii citizens called it the Thurii Plain) was already lush with grass and flying birds in the April spring, with pleasant scenery.

Davos and his group rode freely with light hearts. Before their eyes continuously appeared patches of green farmland and irrigation channels, along with hardworking slaves and farmers. The wide dirt road was muddy from the frequent spring rains. From time to time, they saw slaves from a caravan struggling to push a cart stuck in a mud pit...

A thought flashed through Davos’s mind: This scene was common among the Greek city-states of the Euxine Sea. The Greeks, skilled in commerce, surprisingly had little interest in road construction, which could best facilitate trade. Their energy seemed focused on maritime trade and ships. But the Romans, who rose after them, created the most complex and advanced road network in the Mediterranean of this era.

Riding west along the Crati River for about twenty li, they saw a large city standing on the north bank of the river.

At that point, the guide said, “That is Thurii! When choosing the site for building the city, the Athenians found the confluence of the Crati River and the Coseni River to be an ideal location. Because the river was wide and the current gentle, they could build a dock and accommodate enough merchant ships. When they were about to build the city there, they discovered a large natural spring. The locals called it ‘Thuri,’ so they named the new city Thurii...”

“An interesting story,” Davos said dismissively, looking up. The Crati River was so crowded with boats that he could barely see the opposite bank.

“Better to rebuild at the old site of Sybaris. Building a port directly on the coast would be far better!” Asiastes said in puzzlement.

Davos had already learned the details of this matter from Bourkos, so he didn’t want to say more. He pointed ahead and said, “Let’s go around the city.”

Since Thurii was built at the confluence of two rivers, it was divided into three parts by the rivers: the South City, the North City, and the delta promontory at the confluence. The main part of the city was the North City.

Davos and his group rode along the moat outside the north city wall of Thurii for about a li, finally reaching the bank of the Coseni River. In their eyes, the city wall of Thurii was built with large strip stones, with tight joints between the stones. The wall was at least ten meters high. Twenty meters outside the wall was a five-meter-wide moat connected to the Crati River, presumably quite deep. All this was enough to give any attacker a headache. On the wall, three or four patrols of sentries marching back and forth made them feel the approach of war.

The young Asiastes even jokingly waved to the sentries.

Riding north along the north bank of the Coseni River, they soon saw a pontoon bridge on the river. Davos noticed that the delta between the two rivers was not flat but hilly. According to the guide, these uneven, undulating hills actually helped prevent the spring floods from turning the land between the rivers into marshland.

After traveling about twenty li, the terrain gradually rose, and the ground changed from pure soil to a mix of sand and soil. Fortunately, the riverbank was still fairly flat.

Davos and his group continued for a few more li. The upper reaches of the Coseni River turned from due west to southwest, and a torrent rushed down from due west to join the Coseni River at this point.

“This is the Tino River, a tributary of the Coseni River. A river the Thurii people rather detest,” said the guide.

“Why?” Asiastes asked curiously.

“Because there are many hot springs in its upper reaches,” the guide replied, not quite answering the question.

“Hot springs?!” Davos’s interest was piqued.

They sped up, but when they arrived, they were all stunned. The Tino River had become a small stream only a few meters wide. On the south bank, there were indeed pools of steaming hot springs, but countless small streams flowed from rock crevices at the foot of the mountain, turning this area of interwoven rocks and grass into a marsh.

“In spring, the melting snow on the mountains turns into streams that mix with the hot springs and eventually flow into the Tino River. If it happens to be a rainy season, the Tino River swells and overflows its banks, backfilling the hot spring marsh on the south bank and that over there on the north bank—” the guide pointed ahead, “the great river beach.”

Davos looked ahead and saw that the riverbank seemed to have a big chunk bitten out, forming a depression like half a giant bowl. Below was the river beach, surrounded by gentle slopes on all sides.