Investigation (Part 3)

After crossing the Saraceno River, Davos could clearly feel the terrain rising. The mountains ran parallel to the coast northward, but the distance between them had narrowed considerably. This cramped space increased the safety of Davos’s journey, yet he did not let his guard down. He ordered Asiastes and Laedes to act as scouts on the left flank of the column, keeping a sharp eye on the mountains to prevent the enemy from making a detour through the heights and cutting off their rear.

Along the next stretch of road, Davos saw no coast with soft beaches; instead, there were steep cliffs and jagged reefs. The sea rhythmically pounded the shore with a rather startling roar.

*It seems Amendolara can't possibly have a harbor.* Davos thought to himself, a sense of disappointment rising from his chest.

Just then, the guide shouted, “Look! That’s Amendolara.”

Following the direction of his finger, a city in the distance appeared and disappeared in the haze.

Davos’s spirits lifted. He dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and dashed forward for a stretch, the soldiers behind hurrying to catch up.

Now he could see clearly: Amendolara was actually a mountain city—quite contrary to Greek tradition! It was built on a hill, seemingly of considerable height, facing east, overlooking the Gulf of Taranto. Morning fog from the woods drifted around it, making it appear hazy and indistinct.

To get a better look, Davos pressed on.

The guide followed nervously, trembling, because they were less than a mile from Amendolara. Although they hadn’t seen any Lucanians so far, that didn’t mean the Lucanians wouldn’t come out to “welcome” them right at their doorstep!

Just then, another river blocked their path. The river was less than ten meters wide, the water so clear you could see the bottom. Wading across would be no problem at all.

“This is the Sisno River. Not far north there’s another called the Brano. Amendolara lies between them. Let’s stop here; we can’t cross the river,” the guide implored.

Davos couldn’t help but marvel: The water resources on the Apennine Peninsula were truly abundant! No wonder the citizens of Magna Graecia lived more comfortably than those in mainland Greece. The snowmelt from the Apennines formed rivers, which in turn carried soil and stones from the mountains down to the lowlands, year after year—how could the land not be fertile! Compared to the stony ground of Greece, it was like the difference between heaven and earth! The only drawback was that the plains were too narrow.

During wartime, mountain cities were generally easy to defend and hard to attack, but they needed to solve two problems: food and water. Since Amendolara was surrounded by rivers, water probably wasn’t an issue… Davos pondered as he observed the city of Amendolara not far away. The city seemed rather small, perched at least a hundred meters above the ground, but the slope was gentle. A stone wall encircled the outer perimeter…

The guide saw that Davos neither crossed the river nor left, just stood by the riverbank, repeatedly staring at Amendolara. He grew a bit anxious and was about to urge him again.

Davos asked, “What is the relationship between Amendolara and Thurii? Was the city built by Thurii’s colonists?”

This guide was no ordinary slave. As a homeborn slave, he had grown up studying and playing alongside Bourkos. As an adult, he had followed Bourkos far and wide on business trips, serving as Bourkos’s important assistant. He was well-traveled and knowledgeable. Bourkos sending him as a guide was actually an act of guilt for breaking his promise. So, after thinking briefly about this historical question of some depth, he answered: “It is said that Amendolara was first built by the natives here long ago. Later, the Sybarites occupied it. After Croton destroyed Sybaris, they did not take it… After Thurii was founded, it voluntarily allied with Thurii and even fought alongside Thurii against attacks from Tarentum in the north…”

Allied? Looking at the small city of Amendolara and then thinking of the scale of Thurii, obviously they were not on the same level. To get equal dialogue would be difficult. It was probably an alliance in name only, actually a dependency. Still, as long as it wasn’t a colony of Thurii, that was fine. Davos breathed a secret sigh of relief.

He had been in this era for over half a year and had deliberately learned a great deal about the actual conditions of Greek city-states, completely overturning his previous notion that a city-state was just a single city. When the Greeks established a city, they would try to expand outward, creating villages and towns, bringing the surrounding land under their control. When the land became too distant for direct control, they would establish colonies or capture someone else’s city—both to continue the expansion and to provide protection for the mother city.

In the beginning, these colonies all obeyed the orders of the mother city, since their citizens had all emigrated from there, and even the magistrates might be appointed by the mother city. But as time passed, the Greek love of independence and freedom took effect. Coupled with the closed political management model of Greek city-states, which naturally rejected unification, they soon became independent. However, due to geographical proximity and blood ties, as long as the mother city maintained an advantage in power and did not oppress these neighbors too harshly, they would form a natural alliance with the mother city as the leader. But if the colony was across the sea or too far away, after decades of estrangement, they could easily become two different city-states, even enemies—like Corinth and Corcyra.

Clearly, Amendolara was once a colony of Sybaris, and for Thurii, it was merely a subordinate ally. Therefore, its land did not belong to Thurii… Davos thought, then asked aloud, “How did the Lucanians take this city?”

“I’m not quite sure about that. It seems few Amendolara citizens escaped… At that time, Thurii was immersed in grief over the catastrophic defeat of its entire army and the slaughter of countless citizens, and they were busy defending against the Lucanian attacks. They ignored the pleas for help from the Amendolara citizens. Later, I don’t know where they went…” the guide said carelessly, but Davos committed the details to memory.

Just then, Asiastes shouted, “Chief, someone is coming out of the city!”

…

Vespa, chief of the Lucanians in Amendolara, had been feeling irritable lately. A messenger from Grumentum had come, demanding that he lead his tribe to participate in the Lucanian tribal league’s second offensive against Thurii.

Vespa’s tribe originally lived along the upper reaches of the Agri River, southeast of Grumentum. There were many tribal settlements in that area, and Vespa’s tribe was one of the larger ones, relying on herding and simple agriculture. For decades, they had lived peacefully with the surrounding tribes. But two years ago, after Grumentum entered into a marriage alliance with Pyxous, the already powerful Grumentum became even more overbearing. They no longer cared about the checks and balances from Potentia, equally powerful to the northwest, and began large-scale expansion, attacking and annexing small tribes’ settlements and strongholds. Faced with the overwhelming army of Grumentum, Vespa’s tribe, unwilling to be swallowed up, fled further southeast, hiding in the forests and mountains at the junction of Amendolara and western Heraclea. Plagued by hunger and disease, tribe members kept dying, including Vespa’s two sons. Just when Vespa was barely holding on and considering surrendering to Grumentum for survival, he heard a piece of news.

Since its expansion, Grumentum had greatly increased its population and military strength, but it also brought a problem—food. The Lucanian mountains were not rich in grain production and relied more on herding, which itself depended on the weather. The winter before last was much colder than usual, causing a large number of livestock to freeze to death. Food became a major issue for Grumentum in maintaining its hegemony in southern Lucania. So last winter, Grumentum joined forces with Pyxous and led a combined army with the troops of Nerulum, Laüs, and other tribal cities that recognized Grumentum’s suzerainty, preparing to attack Thurii.

Vespa began to scheme. He planned to fish in troubled waters during the battle, hoping to save his tribe from extinction. He mobilized the entire tribe to build rafts and stockpile food, preparing to descend eastward for plunder.

Just then, he heard good news: Thurii had sent its full army of ten thousand to attack Laüs, and the entire force was annihilated.

Overjoyed, Vespa believed the opportunity had come. He immediately ordered the whole tribe to board the rafts, ride the current downstream, force their way through the rapids, and finally enter the territory of Amendolara.

Note: Grumentum, Pyxous, Nerulum, Laos, Potentia.