Volume 3: The First Croton War, Chapter 32: Izam the Dukeyan

Thurii had no anger left at this moment; they nodded in agreement helplessly.

On the way back to the city of Thurii, Kynogoratas rode far ahead by himself, causing Neonxis, who followed behind, to feel a chill. He wanted to call out to Kynogoratas several times but held back. He had become a general of Thurii thanks to Kynogoratas’ strong support. Kynogoratas, citing Neonxis’ expertise in finance and accounting, had even proposed that he oversee the treasury and trade. But today, without consulting Kynogoratas, he had arbitrarily changed the decision they had previously agreed upon. Knowing Kynogoratas as he did, this general, who never showed mercy to opponents, must hate him deeply! What should he do? Neonxis urgently asked himself; he had grown attached to his position as city-state general and did not want to be ousted.

Kynogoratas indeed hated Neonxis. In the past, the calculating man might have made the same choice as Neonxis, just like last time when he opposed Feris in the town hall. But the defeat in the battle had stirred up fear deep in his heart. Many times in his dreams he woke up terrified by the hideous faces of the Lucanians. After this battle, he discovered his own fragility. War—it was a world completely different from politics. His political tactics were utterly useless on this bloody battlefield, and what was more frightening was that he realized Thurii was outwardly strong but inwardly weak. Therefore, no matter how difficult the finances, he wanted to maintain this mercenary agreement. As long as he strengthened ties with Davos, this military genius, for the next six months, he believed the alliance between Thurii and Amendolara would surely be solidified. But Neonxis, that “traitor,” had ruined everything!

Kynogoratas was still furious: at the end of the meeting, this fool—once nothing more than a lowly employee of a great merchant—actually said to Antistanos, “Since we’re already allies, why bother with a mercenary contract and waste money?” What did he know?! Could the binding force of an alliance and a mercenary contract on Amendolara be the same?! Hadn’t he seen that clever young magistrate of Amendolara almost wished we would abandon this agreement early, so he not only didn’t refute it but actively gave it up! This politically clueless fool could not stay in the town hall; he must be kicked out immediately!

Antistanos was still annoyed that Davos had refused his request for an interview. He kept thinking: after the agreement was signed, how could he find an excuse to come to Amendolara to learn from the other new citizens of Amendolara who had campaigned in Persia. Therefore, he completely failed to notice the unusual behavior of the two generals.

Davos returned home and thought of a very urgent matter. He pondered for a long time but still had no idea how to handle it.

So he summoned Asiastes and said, “Now that the alliance agreement with Thurii is about to be signed. We need to start preparing for the plan against Lucania in advance. First, we need to understand the current situation in the Lucania region. Only then can we formulate the correct strategic plan and make targeted preparations. But the problem is that the Lucanians have little contact with Thurii and Amendolara, and now even less. We can only send people to scout. But Greeks definitely won’t work—the difference in appearance is too obvious. If we send captured Lucanians, we risk them taking the opportunity to escape and leaking our situation… Ah!… This is difficult! Asy, do you have any suggestions?”

Asiastes also thought hard for a while, then suddenly smiled: “Magistrate, you’ve forgotten someone. I think he’s quite suitable.”

“Oh! Who?” Davos had only been grasping at straws, never expecting Asiastes to actually have a candidate.

“Izam!”

“…That son of the Dukeyan chief!” Davos finally remembered. During their time in Byzantium, Izam had been in Timasion’s camp. By then the Dukeyans were of no further use, and everyone treated him as an ordinary soldier. With the troops yearning to return home and morale unstable, no one paid attention to his movements. Davos vaguely recalled someone telling him that Izam later joined his mercenary army and was in Hieronymus’ company. Now thinking back, Izam was curious, clever, and had a strong ability to learn languages—which had left an impression on Davos. Besides, he had also grown up in the mountains.

“Does he resemble the Lucanians?” Davos asked uncertainly.

“Quite similar!” Asiastes affirmed. “Height and body type are quite close. The only difference is a slight variation in hair color, but that can be disguised. Most importantly, he married a Lucanian woman as his wife. He can learn the language and customs from her.”

“Oh, just like you!” Davos relaxed now that he had a suitable candidate, and joked: “I didn’t expect you to indeed marry a Lucanian girl, and she really is Bacule’s sister!”

This time it was Asiastes’ turn to be a bit shy and fell silent.

“What does she look like? Not like her brother, I hope?” Davos asked curiously with a smile.

“Sh… she’s… okay…” Asiastes hemmed and hawed for a while, finally managing to get the words out.

“Okay?! That means she’s quite beautiful!” Davos, knowing his herald well, said with certainty: “Vespa is the chief of the entire tribe. Of course he would pick the most beautiful woman in the tribe as his wife. The daughter born to them would certainly be not bad. As for Bacule… he just turned out ugly.”

Davos continued teasing: “But your brother-in-law is also impressive. With that face, he still made the first beauty of Amendolara unable to forget him and willing to wait five years for him.”

Seeing Asiastes silent but smiling, Davos said again: “Asy, let me give you some advice. You’d better approach this with understanding and tolerance, learn well from your wife, and seriously get to know the Lucanians. Perhaps one day, when you have enough ability, I will actually send you to Lucania.”

“Lord Davos, can we really capture the Lucania region?! According to my wife, the Lucanian region has five or six major towns, hundreds of tribes, and a population of over a hundred thousand…” Asiastes asked with worry and doubt.

“As long as you dare to think it, and make careful preparations and correct planning, anything is possible!” Davos encouraged him confidently.

Asiastes seemed lost in thought.

Davos said: “Go and bring Izam and Tushu here.”

“Yes!”

“Wait!” Davos remembered something and stopped Asiastes, who was about to leave the room: “I’m giving you an important task! I need to be informed in a timely manner about the movements of the surrounding city-states: Tarentum, Thurii, Heraclea, Croton, etc. Their new laws and changes in trade, politics, and military, as well as the conditions of the people within the city-states, etc. We need someone to organize manpower, collect intelligence, make summaries, and report to me promptly, so that we can formulate corresponding laws and measures based on the situation of our neighboring states. You will take charge of this for now. If you need money and manpower, I will provide them.”

“Alright, Lord Davos.” Asiastes agreed without hesitation.

Seeing his enthusiasm, Davos reminded him: “Gathering intelligence on city-states is a tedious but patient and meticulous massive task. Since you have no experience at the start, you can begin only with Thurii…” Davos carefully told Asiastes some principles and experiences of intelligence gathering that he had seen in books and online in his previous life.

Asiastes listened and remembered seriously, feeling excited inside, because this was the first time he was independently responsible for a specific task. It was clearly much more interesting and important than his previous role as a herald, just shouting orders and delivering messages.

Izam and his Lucanian wife were working in the fields.

As a Dukeyan mountain man, Izam did not follow Greek customs—which forbade housewives from appearing in public. When his new wife asked to go work in the fields with him, he not only agreed but was very happy. In Dukeya, when manpower was scarce, women would take up javelins to go hunting or even fighting. His wife’s initiative to work together showed that she had integrated into this new family, so Izam was naturally happy. Although the citizens they encountered on the way to the fields cast strange looks at them, he remained in high spirits, constantly communicating with his wife in halting Lucanian.

Since Izam joined the mercenary army very late, the land he was allocated from the original deceased citizens of Amendolara was not very good. Not only was it only five mu in area, but it was far from the river, closer to the mountains, and of poor quality. Fortunately, when he chose to serve as a guide for the Greeks, he had expressed his desire to venture out to his stern father, Kommolo. The Dukeyan chief had given him quite a lot of money, which finally came in handy. On the advice of close comrades, he bought three slaves from Tarentum in one go: two Egyptian slaves to till his fields and one Greek slave specifically to herd his cattle and sheep. After all, his land was adjacent to the mountains, making herding convenient (the mountains were public property of Amendolara; anyone could go in and out for grazing, but cutting down trees required approval from the city’s Treasurer, and a fee would be charged depending on the situation. This was a proposal put forward by Davos and passed by the Senate after discussion, mainly to prevent deforestation). In fact, if it hadn’t been for Cristodia’s bank offering low-interest loans, many of his comrades would have had to borrow money from him.

Although he had never held a sickle or handled a plow, Izam humbly asked and learned from the Egyptian slaves. His wife was pulling weeds from the wheat field by hand. Another Egyptian slave had gone to the Sinni River to fetch water, while the Greek slave had driven a dozen or so cattle and sheep, bought just a few days ago, up the hillside early in the morning.