Volume 3, First Croton War, Chapter 31: The Situation in Lucania

The citizens who had been watching all of this cheered and rejoiced, while the Lucanian slaves who had been digging the canals and setting up the water wheels stood dumbfounded, thinking it must be the work of gods. "Lord Davos, by Zeus's blessing, this is truly miraculous! Wonderful! With this... water... water wheel, we've gained over three hundred more acres of good farmland in Amendolara!" Cornelius exclaimed excitedly.

"It's not just more farmland—the people will also have easier access to water from now on!" Scombrus added, looking equally pleased.

"Gentlemen, this is not Zeus's blessing—you should thank Lord Davos! The water wheel was designed and provided by Lord Davos himself. If there truly is a god watching over us, it must be Hades!" Mariji's blunt words left Cornelius and the others somewhat embarrassed.

Davos, standing by, neither stopped Mariji's rudeness nor showed any modesty. He needed these old citizens to understand: under his governance, Amendolara would leave its past behind and shine with dazzling radiance!

The contrast between the cheering, jubilant citizens and the uncomfortable expressions of the old senators was stark.

Just then, Asiastes hurried over to inform him: Izam had returned!

Davos immediately handed over the task of presiding over the following celebration to Cornelius, who accepted this glorious duty with a complicated expression.

...

Davos rushed back to his residence with Asiastes.

Izam stood before Davos, covered in dust, his face grimy, hair and beard tangled and unkempt, wearing a tattered Lucanian leather robe, and barefoot. Davos almost didn't recognize him.

It turned out that Izam had returned to the city without going home first, coming straight to Davos. As a superior, Davos praised Izam's dedication while also showing concern. He ordered a female slave to take Izam to bathe, cut his hair, and trim his beard (the Greeks, unlike the Romans, wore beards). Meanwhile, he arranged a hearty lunch and invited Izam to eat and talk.

Under the deliberately relaxed atmosphere Davos created, and after a few cups of wine, Izam gradually loosened up: "Lord Davos... er..." Izam belched, then said, "Following your orders, I disguised myself, crossed the mountain paths in the western hills of the Sybaris Plain, and first went to Laüs. It sits at the mouth of a river the locals call the 'La River.' The city isn't large, but it's a stone city with a harbor, so its defenses weren't too tight. I blended in, worked at the docks carrying cargo, and got to know a few dock slaves. Guess who they were?" Izam asked mysteriously.

"They should be Greeks," Davos said, not surprised. The Lucanians had invaded Thurii's territory many times, carrying off no small number of Greeks.

But Izam's next answer truly surprised him: "To be precise, they are descendants of the Sybarites. Laüs was built by the Sybarites. According to them, the Sybarites built Laüs to serve as a transshipment port for Sybaris's trade with cities like Neapolis, Etruria, Massilia, and so on. So Laüs was prosperous back then... But after Sybaris was destroyed, Laüs lost its support and was soon captured by Nerulum from the south."

"Oh, is that so..." Davos did feel somewhat surprised. He asked, "So all the original Sybarites became slaves? How many Greek slaves are in Laüs now?"

"I don't know exactly how many Greek slaves there are, but when the Lucanians attacked Laüs back then, some Greeks surrendered voluntarily and joined the Lucanians... One of Laüs's leaders, Avinogis, is a descendant of those people, and the tribe he leads is also made up of descendants of those Sybarites. The Lucanians consider them not pure-blooded Lucanians and don't trust them much—they often insult and oppress them. Although the Greek slaves also despise these people, believing their betrayal caused Laüs's fall, they don't hate Avinogis all that much. Most consider him a good man because he often helps them..."

Izam took a few more sips of wine and said excitedly, "Laüs is not stable right now. Originally, the Lucanian tribes led by Laüs's Great Chief Tura and others didn't want Avinogis to share the spoils, so they only had his tribe stay behind to guard the city and didn't let them join the invasion of Thurii. None of them expected you, my lord, to lead us in nearly wiping out all the Lucanians who invaded Thurii! Haha... Laüs's Great Chief Tura fled back to the city with only a few dozen warriors. Avinogis has become the most powerful leader in Laüs. And then, my lord, guess what happened?"

Izam seemed a bit drunk, speaking without restraint, but Davos didn't mind. His heart stirred, and he said, "The Great Chief tried to annex Avinogis's tribe?"

Izam slapped the wooden armrest and said, "My lord, you are truly brilliant—you guessed it on the first try!" He grabbed a piece of bread, tore off a large chunk, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed noisily.

Asiastes raised an eyebrow, about to scold him, but Davos waved him off.

"I heard from the dock slaves that once, Tura invited Avinogis to a banquet. I don't know what happened, but when he came back, several of his guards were seen wounded. From that day on, Avinogis stayed at home and stopped going to the city council. I circled around his residence—it was surrounded by armed warriors on patrol. According to them, Avinogis hasn't rebelled because he's observing the situation in Nerulum."

"Nerulum?" Davos listened intently.

"Yes, my lord." Izam scratched his head apologetically and said, "I had planned to go north, deep into Lucania's interior to scout, but Nerulum controls the northern route upstream on the La River. Right now, it's heavily guarded, and strangers can't pass. Laüs used to be subordinate to Nerulum, but this time, all of Nerulum's warriors who went on the expedition were killed. I heard that Nerulum's Great Chief Uder himself fell at our hands, severely weakening their strength." At this, Izam looked somewhat proud. "Several leaders inside Nerulum were busy fighting for the position of Great Chief and nearly came to blows."

As Izam spoke, he instinctively reached for his cup, only to find it empty. Davos stood up, stepped forward, and refilled it.

Izam remained seated, merely offering a thanks, and Davos took no offense. He sat down and continued listening. "My lord, do you remember after we wiped out the main Lucanian allied forces, we headed to their camp and found it burned to ashes with many corpses? At the time, everyone assumed it was internal strife among the Lucanians. Now I know who did it."

"Who?" Davos leaned forward, showing concern.

"The Vergaeans!"

"Vergae?"

"My lord, Vergae is south of Laüs, not too far away. It's a Bruttian city. But because the Lucanians were powerful before, it was forced to join the Lucanian tribal alliance. Since they were outsiders, they were probably often oppressed, so..."

"Hmm, the Bruttians..." Davos stroked his chin. He knew even less about this native race, also neighbors of Thurii. All he knew was that due to geography, it posed little threat to Thurii but was a major nuisance to the Greek city-states to the south.

"I heard that after the Vergaeans fled back, they announced their withdrawal from the Lucanian tribal alliance, built city walls, sent many warriors to patrol the border, and blocked the road south out of Laüs." Having said this, Izam tilted his head and drank a few more gulps of wine.

"All you do is drink. You've talked so much, but do you have any news about Grumentum?" Asiastes said impatiently.

"Izam went alone into unfamiliar Lucania to scout, suffered a lot, and brought back valuable intelligence. Drinking a little wine is nothing, but you shouldn't only drink—eat some fruit too. It's good for your health," Davos said with concern.

"Yes." Izam responded gratefully, immediately putting down his cup, clearing his throat a few times, and said earnestly, "Although I couldn't go to scout Grumentum city directly, I did get relatively accurate news about it."

Hearing this, Davos and Asiastes both perked up. After all, Grumentum was the instigator of the last war and the leader of the Lucanian alliance. Every move it made was relevant to Davos's attack plans.

"Pyxous is another port city in the Lucanian region and the second most powerful state in the Lucanian alliance after Grumentum. I've heard it's also a stone city." Izam didn't bring up Grumentum first but steered the topic to Pyxous.

Stone city! Davos's heart stirred. From his understanding over the past half year, the Greeks preferred building cities with stone, while the mountain tribes mostly used wood. With the precedent of Laüs and the fact it was a port city, he couldn't help but suspect that Pyxous was also seized by the Lucanians from the Greeks.

"Pyxous and Laüs have maritime trade, so some news spread from Pyxous's merchants and sailors to Laüs. It's said that most of Grumentum's warriors died at our hands. Its Great Chief Acipirus escaped, but he has been unconscious. Once the news got out, many tribes that Grumentum had forcibly annexed began to break away from Grumentum's control. But Grumentum was powerless to stop them because the leaders inside the city were busy fighting for the position of Great Chief. Initially, Acipirus's tribe was still the strongest among the city's tribes, but his son Lusau encountered a formidable opponent—Genanet, the son of Pyxous's Great Chief Sicinag—" At this point, Izam picked up a dried fig and popped it into his mouth.