The Battle of Thurii (Part 1)

The attack and retreat signals of the Greek city‑states were largely the same, and Thurii’s military deployment had hardly changed, except that all two hundred cavalry had been assigned to Archytas. This made Archytas even more favorably disposed toward Davos, and he repeatedly expressed his thanks.

Bourkos, standing not far away and watching the discussion, also felt well‑disposed toward Davos. Yet he could not understand why Davos would sing the praises of the Pythagorean school at this moment; he had never heard Davos mention it before! Did he not know that in Magna Graecia, apart from Tarentum, no city‑state looked kindly on the Pythagoreans, making life difficult for that mysterious group throughout the region? This attitude of his might well affect how Feris, Kynogoratas, and the others perceived him.

Just as Bourkos was worrying on Davos’s behalf, the brief pre‑march meeting quickly ended. Davos mounted his horse and slowly rode toward his own troops, observing as he went the two armies that would soon fight side by side. The soldiers of the Tarentine relief force led by Archytas were all vigorous young men in their twenties and thirties, spirited, carrying round shields on their left shoulders, spears resting on their right shoulders, helmets slung over the spears, walking and chatting with their comrades in a relaxed manner. The Thurian citizen soldiers, however, mostly wore grave expressions; many were grey‑haired and slightly stooped…

As he watched, Davos frowned. Suddenly he felt something was wrong. Pointing to the rear of the column, he said to Bourkos, who was riding beside him: “What’s this? How are there still soldiers in leather armor? … Wait… and some are actually naked? There are quite a few like that… No, your numbers are not just four thousand!”

Bourkos replied, “Those are freemen and foreigners living in Thurii. The Thurian Assembly discussed the matter and passed a resolution: ‘All freemen and foreigners who take part in this war will become Thurian citizens upon victory.’ Actually, it was your suggestion that reminded us. Now the Thurian force numbers about six thousand.” Bourkos spoke with a hint of pride.

This somewhat eased Davos’s unease. He sighed and said, “I didn’t realize there were so many freemen in Thurii!”

“Actually, this is only a small part. Most of the freemen are still waiting and watching, and did not join the fight.” Bourkos’s words surprised Davos and set him thinking.

The Thurian allied army formed three columns—left, center, and right—stretching out in a long line across the Sybaris Plain, slowly advancing westward along the Crati River. Scout cavalry rode back and forth constantly, reporting on the movements of the Lucanians.

…

A herald hurried up and said to Commander Davos: “General Feris orders you to halt and deploy in battle formation here!”

“Understood.” Davos nodded, then said to the trumpeter beside him, “Sound the halt!”

The trumpet call rang out, and the mercenary force soon stopped.

“Order: deploy!” Davos commanded again.

The trumpeter blew the circular bronze trumpet once more.

At once, the head of the mercenary column moved to the right, and the tail swung forward. Davos’s army used the platoon as the basic tactical unit—the squad only served administrative purposes and could not fight independently. When marching in column, the troops were arranged with each platoon in four files, one after the other. So when the long dragon of the column turned and faced west, the deployment was nearly complete, and very fast.

Davos placed the first heavy infantry company on the far right, because this side had to link up with Thurii’s center. He assigned Capus, the steady commander of the first heavy infantry company, to control the company’s advance and retreat to prevent it from becoming disconnected from the center. On the far left was the third heavy infantry company, led by Amyntas. Given the enemy’s numerical superiority, the left flank might be enveloped; a bold, aggressive company commander would keep the soldiers’ morale high. In fact, Davos felt that Hieronymus, who was equally brave but more experienced in battle, would be better suited for this role. However, that former commander of the Anabasis, who had only recently joined Davos, had too many new recruits under him—men who had enlisted at Byzantium—and Davos was not yet confident in them. Fortunately, behind Amyntas were two peltast companies for support; Davos believed holding the line would be no problem. Traditionally, a Greek phalanx was at least eight ranks deep, but Davos’s force had only four ranks. This was because his troops were few; to maintain the length of the line, the depth had to be thinner. But Davos trusted that his experienced mercenaries could hold off the numerically superior enemy.

The left wing had already deployed. The center was still slowly spreading out: officers shouting, heralds relaying orders, soldiers calling warnings to each other—a cacophony of voices like a noisy marketplace. Feris placed Drakos’s thousand mercenaries in the very front ranks, the Thurian citizen soldiers in the middle, and the freemen in the rear, a depth of over a dozen ranks…

The right wing also deployed quickly. Archytas placed the Tarentine citizen soldiers in front, the mercenaries behind, and two hundred cavalry on the far right. His phalanx was eight ranks deep as well.

Finally, the center finished deploying. The left, center, and right wings formed a single line. Thurii’s priests carried the statue of their patron god, Apollo, before the phalanx and began chanting hymns. Then they offered blood sacrifices and prayed for victory. The soldiers silently prayed to Apollo for his protection. The Tarentine soldiers also prayed, but not to the sun god—their city had its own patron, Poseidon, and even the legendary hero Phalanthus. The mercenaries mostly worshipped Ares, the god of war, and Zeus, the king of the gods. But Davos’s men were different. They had once worshipped Ares as well, but after Davos led them to one victory after another and created many miracles, they began to believe in Hades, the god of the underworld…

As the entire army immersed itself in prayers to the gods, scouts rode back one after another, bringing news that the Lucanian allied army was approaching. Lucanian scouts also appeared before the Greek line, but were quickly driven back by the numerically superior Greek cavalry.

“The Lucanians are less than three stades away… We should prepare the whole army!” Kynogoratas said nervously.

Feris waved his hand and said, “No hurry. The Lucanians won’t attack so soon. Their army hasn’t even appeared yet. Even when they do, it will take time just to form their battle line.”

Kynogoratas stepped back, disgruntled.

After a while, a golden light appeared on the distant plain, covering the hills and fields like a golden flood rolling eastward.

Kynogoratas drew in a sharp breath and said anxiously, “Just as that young mercenary leader said, the Lucanians have indeed changed to our weapons and armor. This could be trouble!”

“Don’t worry,” Feris said calmly, “Even if the Lucanians have changed equipment, they cannot have learned our Greek formations in such a short time. Meanwhile, they have abandoned their own strengths. Perhaps it will work to our advantage.” He turned to the herald and said, “Quickly inform all officers not to be anxious. Let the soldiers continue to rest.”

“Damn it, we’re facing the sun. The sunlight strikes them and hurts my eyes. When the fighting starts, it will affect the javelin throwing of Epithenis and Tsipet’s men!” Matoris said uneasily.

“What can we do? We’re in the east. Isn’t Thurii’s patron god Apollo? Why not pray to him to stay home today?” Olivus joked.

“Better yet, ask our commander Davos to have Hades turn day into night—then we won’t have to fight at all,” Epithenis added with a grin.

The mercenary soldiers rested, and the officers gathered around Davos, exchanging jokes as if they did not care at all about the numerous Lucanians facing them.