Investigation (Part 4)

Originally he had only intended to seize the opportunity to pillage and plunder heavily between Amendolara and Thurii. But scouts reported back that the residents of Amendolara were carrying a large amount of baggage and were preparing to leave the city.

How could Vespas and his tribe let such a good opportunity slip by? They immediately gave chase, killing as they went, and even seized the city of Amendolara in the process. For Vespas, this was truly a blessing from the Asinu Mountain God! The tribe won easily, not only capturing a large amount of supplies but also occupying a city—and a mountain town that the Lucanians liked to live in, at that. They also gained a large number of “slaves.”

But soon he realized that it was quite difficult for his tribe, which had only about a thousand warriors, to hold a city: first, he had to spare several hundred warriors to watch over the thousands of captives; then he had to guard against the Thurians retaking Amendolara. Most troublesome of all was Grumentum. After all, the Vespas tribe had originally refused to be annexed by Grumentum, and now they had taken advantage of the Lucanian tribal alliance spilling blood on the front lines against Thurii and winning to seize the spoils that rightfully belonged to Grumentum without much effort. How could Acipirus, the vengeful great leader of Grumentum, let them off! But if Vespas gave up Amendolara and fled back into the mountains, he and his tribe, having tasted enough of wandering and hardship, could hardly bear to give up this newfound comfort.

While he was still hesitating, a few days passed and good news arrived: The Lucanian allied army that had been preparing to besiege Thurii was struck by plague and forced to withdraw.

Vespas was overjoyed and repeatedly praised the Asinu Mountain God.

In the following months, because Thurii’s strength was greatly reduced, they did not send troops to retake Amendolara. Vespas and his tribe enjoyed a rare period of peace.

By this spring, envoys from Grumentum crossed the mountains and arrived at Amendolara, bringing Acipirus’s orders: commanding him to join the Lucanian allied army and prepare for a second attack on Thurii.

Vespas agreed readily enough, but sneered inwardly, because the envoys never mentioned who would control Amendolara after the war.

Now he figured it out: to keep Amendolara, he could only hope that the Lucanian allied army and Thurii would both be weakened, so his tribe could eke out a chance to survive in the cracks and slowly use and integrate the power of Amendolara to restore the tribe’s vitality. Therefore, when he learned that mercenaries kept arriving in Thurian territory, he was not worried but pleased.

He restrained his people, urging them to leave the city as little as possible and not to provoke Thurii, letting the Greeks prepare for war in peace.

Today, a scout reported that a Greek force of about a hundred men had invaded the territory of Amendolara.

He was quite surprised: This was the first time a Greek force had appeared in Amendolara since the great battle last year. Were they coming to attack the city? Why only a hundred or so men? Could they be the vanguard? Was Thurii, ignoring the threat of the Lucanian allied army bearing down on them, trying to eliminate their rear worry first? Based on his careful observations over the past few months, this didn’t seem like the Thurian way of doing things?!

With many questions, Vespas climbed onto the city wall and looked down at the hillside: A hundred or so Greek soldiers stood alone by the Sisno River, not moving for a long time, with no signs of activity behind them.

They’re here to scout! Vespas was somewhat certain.

So he decided to show his strength to discourage the Greeks. He ordered his son Bacule to lead a thousand warriors out of the city, leaving only a hundred or so to guard the captives.

Bacule led the Lucanian warriors charging furiously out of the city gate.

Asiastes couldn’t help but shout, “Chief, look at their weapons!”

Armor, round shields, spears—all of them were outfitted like Greek heavy infantry. No wonder Asiastes was startled; he thought Amendolara had been taken back by some Greek army!

Davos looked carefully, then smiled. “It should be that the Lucanians seized the weapons of Amendolara’s citizens and equipped themselves. Unfortunately, it’s only an imitation—they’re far from being real heavy infantry.”

Indeed, Greek heavy infantry formed up tightly, advancing slowly before battle and basically maintaining a straight line. But looking at the Lucanian warriors opposite, their formation was not only loose but also uneven.

When the guide saw the Lucanian warriors emerge from the city, he was extremely nervous. Seeing that Davos was still in a mood to joke, he almost cursed out loud.

Then Davos said, “Retreat! Go back!”

The guide, as if pardoned, turned his horse and fled.

The soldiers all turned around in unison and began jogging.

Davos reined in his horse and didn’t move until the soldiers had left him behind. Then he and Asiastes and Laedes turned their horses and walked slowly, which made the guide somewhat embarrassed.

The Greeks withdrew slowly; the Lucanians pursued slowly, keeping a certain distance between them.

Only when Davos and his men crossed the Saraceno River did the Lucanians stop on the northern bank.

“A thousand… a thousand men…” Davos asked thoughtfully, “Asi, do you think the Lucanians in Amendolara want to fight us or not?”

“Of course not—you can tell from the way they pursued,” Asiastes answered without hesitation.

“I heard from Bourkos that there aren’t too many Lucanians in Amendolara. How many exactly?” Davos asked the guide.

“There are such rumors in Thurii, but it seems no one knows exactly how many Lucanians are in Amendolara,” the guide replied, somewhat puzzled.

Davos smiled mysteriously and changed the subject. “What lies to the north of Amendolara?”

Back on Thurian soil, the guide became more composed. “About twenty li north is the Sinni River, and further north is the Agri River. On the opposite bank is the city of Heraclea, which lies on the Siris Plain—also a fertile land. Decades ago, Thurii and Tarentum fought a war over that land.”

“Who won?” Asiastes asked curiously.

“We Thurians won twice, but Tarentum is a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia. They kept sending troops, and the war dragged on for a long time. Finally, the two sides signed an agreement and jointly founded the city of Heraclea,” the guide said with a hint of pride.

“Oh, I never knew Thurii was so formidable before,” Asiastes remarked casually.

“That was because back then Thurii had General Cleandridas—he was a Spartan!” the guide said reverently. Then he thought of something else and added reluctantly, “Even last time, when Thurii was defeated by the Lucanians, it was because they used a trick to ambush Thurii. If it had been a face-to-face battle, they wouldn’t have been a match for Thurii.”

Asiastes wanted to argue, but Davos stopped him. “It’s still early—let’s hurry and take a look south of Thurii.”

The guide couldn’t understand why this young mercenary leader was running around tirelessly day after day. To the west and north, where Lucanians were, it made sense, but there were no enemies to the south. Still, it gave him some relief—these mercenaries were too bold, making him fear for their safety.

Davos and his party crossed the pontoon bridge not far west of Thurii and arrived at the delta between the two rivers. There they saw wagon after wagon traveling back and forth on a road leading westward…

The guide told them: they were transporting copper ore and stone to Thurii. Recently, because of the war, the city urgently needed stone and copperware.

“Are there Thurian copper mines and stone quarries to the west?” Davos blinked as he looked at the rough dirt road that wound through the hills.

“Yes. With the Coseni River as a barrier, the Lucanians can’t get across.” The guide, usually talkative, now wanted to end the conversation quickly and led them promptly to the pontoon bridge over the Crati.

The Crati River was at least fifty meters wide, and because it was spring, the current was swift, making the pontoon bridge sway back and forth. Afraid of spooking their horses and falling into the water, Davos and his men had to dismount and lead their horses across on foot.

After crossing the Crati, the land they set foot on was still part of the Sybaris Plain. It was a green, flat corridor between the mountain range and the coast, and this corridor was noticeably wider than the seaside corridor at Amendolara. Here they could see more Thurians working in the fields—obviously, for Thurii, this was now the only safe area.

After traveling about ten li further south, the corridor suddenly narrowed because a large expanse of tidal flats had appeared near the coast.

Here the guide reined in his horse and said, “Ahead lies the territory of Castiglione. Do you still want to look at it?”

Note: Castiglione

Heraclea—on this site before Heraclea was founded, Greek colonists had established the city of Siris (which shares a name with the one the Roman Empire used to refer to the Han Dynasty), probably destroyed around 550 BCE by Sybaris in alliance with Metapontum.