Volume 3: The First Croton War, Chapter 32: The Medical Problems of Amendolara

“Since you say this Grenatus is from Pyxous, how could he possibly contend for the position of Great Chief of Grumentum?” Asiastes asked, puzzled.

Izam had deliberately held back earlier, and now he grinned. “Because when Acipirus wanted to make Pyxous his ally, he married his daughter to Grenatus. That made the Great Chiefs of Grumentum and Pyxous relatives, and Grenatus became Acipirus’s son-in-law. I’ve heard that Sicinag also bribed several chiefs in Grumentum, so Grenatus gained support from some of Grumentum’s tribes. Lussau had no choice but to turn to Potentia, another powerful tribe in Lucania, for help. Sicinag then also asked Potentia to arbitrate, but Potentia has yet to respond. Now both sides are gathering their forces. The merchants and sailors all say that a great battle could break out in Grumentum at any moment to decide who will be the Great Chief of Grumentum!”

Davos had not expected that a single annihilation battle would not only split the Lucanian alliance but also reshape the power structure of the Lucanian region. Now the currents ran deep everywhere, and for Amendolara, this was a golden opportunity.

“Can you draw a map of Lucania?” Davos asked urgently. Before Izam left, he had repeatedly stressed this.

“I can,” Izam said firmly.

So the three of them went to the dirt floor of the courtyard. Izam took a wooden stick and began carefully sketching on the ground, while Asiastes stood by with parchment and pen, ready to copy the map onto paper once Izam finished.

Davos watched the map closely as he listened to Izam’s explanations.

He saw that the mountain passes west of Thurii did not lead directly to Laüs, but rather between Laüs and Nerulum. The city of Laüs was at the mouth of the Lao River, guarding the land route from Bruttium into Lucania, while Vergae of the Bruttians served as a barrier preventing the Lucanians from invading. Compared to Laüs, Nerulum was more important to Amendolara because it guarded the northward passage into Lucania. Only by capturing Nerulum could Amendolara have multiple options for further conquest of Lucania…

“Izam, the intelligence you’ve brought is very important. You have rendered great service to the city-state! I have decided to establish a reconnaissance squad, and you will be its captain. For now, the complement is only twenty men. Go pick them from the battalions yourself; if anyone refuses to release a man, send him to me!” Davos praised him while immediately fulfilling his earlier promise.

“Thank you, Magistrate!” Izam nearly jumped up in excitement.

“Go on back now. You’ve been away for over ten days; your wife must miss you very much! Oh, and the water wheel has been built by the Sinni River. It can divert water to your fields, so you no longer have to worry about carrying water!”

“Wonderful!” Izam was about to head out happily.

“Wait!” Davos stopped him. He had slaves bring over two large jars of wine and said, “Since you love wine so much, take these back and enjoy them slowly.”

Izam thanked him again, then without ceremony, grabbed a jar under each arm and went home in high spirits.

“Sir, that boy is far too rude!” Asiastes was displeased with Izam’s earlier behavior in the living room.

“He’s still a Dukian,” Davos said with a laugh. “Asias, don’t put too much stock in appearances. What matters is here and here.”

Davos pointed to his chest and head. “Izam completed the task I gave him flawlessly—that’s no easy feat. He’s a talented young man! As long as he has talent and isn’t a bad person, we should use him. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now that you know the situation in Lucania, how should we attack it? Go home and think it over. Come back tomorrow and we’ll discuss it together.”

…

After his morning meal, Kynogoratas suddenly felt discomfort in his chest. He had to lean on a slave as he was helped to the “hospital” in Amendolara.

The hospital was also located in the lower part of Amendolara (since it was a hill city, there was an upper and lower section), near the city gate. Rumor had it that Magistrate Davos, to support the hospital’s development, had specially allocated two adjoining vacant houses for Helpus and his team to establish the hospital.

Kynogoratas had heard in Thurii about the excellent medical skills of Davos’s mercenary doctors, but when he arrived at the hospital grounds, he was stunned by the sight: patients lined up from the entrance all the way to the foot of the hill, a long queue of over a hundred people, even affecting traffic through the city gate. The people of Amendolara saw a business opportunity and set up small stalls near the hospital, selling food, drinks, and renting out wooden chairs and hats. A small market had formed there, bustling with activity.

Ephor Antonios had reported this to Davos. Davos had no good solution for now except to send more patrolmen to maintain order. He could only order Overseer of Construction Alexis to prioritize building a large hospital next to the current one after completing the storage inn, so that the temporary hospital could be moved and traffic restored inside the city.

The loyal slave had to first rent a wooden chair for Kynogoratas to sit on, then went inside to find a doctor, hoping for priority treatment. But just as he reached the entrance, a patrolman responsible for maintaining order stopped him. After hearing the situation, the patrolman said he could do nothing and added, “There are many people here whose conditions are worse than your master’s, and they are all waiting in line according to order. Unless it’s life-threatening, everyone has to queue outside!”

Helpless, the slave took a number and returned to Kynogoratas. But since the hospital’s patients came not only from Amendolara but mainly from Thurii and Heraclea, some Thurians in the crowd recognized the seated Kynogoratas and began shouting insults. The scene grew chaotic, even drawing the attention of the gate guards.

Kynogoratas was furious. He decided not to see the doctor at all and went home. But that night, he began to feel a mild pain in his chest and couldn’t sleep well. So early the next morning, he returned to the hospital—only to find the entrance deserted. When he asked a nurse on duty, he learned that today Magistrate Davos was giving a lecture to the doctors, so they would be focused on learning and discussion; no patients would be seen that day.

Since the doctors’ lecture was not open to the public like the Pythagorean school’s teachings—it was only open to doctors and nurses—Kynogoratas couldn’t enter. He had to accept his bad luck.

Back home, by noon, Kynogoratas not only felt chest pain but also had difficulty breathing. He could no longer get out of bed. His son Sostratus had no choice but to force his way into the doctors’ meeting.

Davos, who was watching the doctors engage in intense discussion and share their medical experiences, was shocked to hear this. He quickly sent Helpus to Kynogoratas’s home to treat him.

Helpus inquired about the condition in detail and performed a thorough examination. He concluded that when Kynogoratas had been severely beaten earlier, his ribs had been cracked but never treated. After arriving in Amendolara, instead of resting properly, he had gone climbing, causing a rib fracture. The broken rib had pierced his lung, leading to his current state. With the diagnosis, Helpus treated him. Kynogoratas’s condition began to improve, and he repeatedly praised Helpus’s superb medical skills.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Davos, through Kynogoratas’s difficulty in seeing a doctor, identified several problems with the newly established facility.

First, although the Amendolara Hospital had gained a reputation and spurred some economic benefits, it had become harder for Amendolara’s own citizens to see a doctor (because there were more foreign patients). This was not right, as it failed to give Amendolara citizens a sense of privilege. Fortunately, he had discovered this in time; otherwise, over time, the citizens would accumulate grievances, and those grievances would be directed at Davos—after all, he had championed the hospital’s founding and was the doctors’ nominal teacher. Therefore, Amendolara must establish a special channel for its citizens in the hospital. Regardless of the severity of their illness, Amendolara citizens must receive priority consultation! Priority treatment! The goal was to let patients from other city-states see the privileges of being an Amendolara citizen and know the happiness of being one.

Second, during medical lectures, there must be at least one doctor remaining at the hospital to handle emergency cases. Moreover, lectures should not be held too frequently, so as not to disrupt normal consultations and treatments.

Third, regarding the overwhelming number of patients that could not be seen in a single day, Davos felt this was actually a good thing—it could increase revenue for Amendolara’s inns and other businesses. However, serious patients not receiving timely treatment would indeed harm the hospital’s reputation. The best—and only—solution was to increase the number of doctors. The Amendolara Hospital currently had six doctors. Training a good doctor takes time (excluding shamans and wandering healers), and it was impossible to produce new doctors in the short term. The only way was to recruit doctors from other city-states. As the hospital’s reputation continued to grow, it would naturally attract doctors from elsewhere to come and learn. A proposal could then be passed in the Senate: for foreign doctors willing to stay in Amendolara, the hospital would accept them as formal students, opening all medical theories, case records, and research materials to them. The city-state would immediately grant them Amendolara citizenship. This grant of citizenship could also be extended to teachers. In this era, doctors and teachers were both high-quality talents, essential for a city-state’s survival and development, and Amendolara lacked both—especially teachers.

Note: In the late Roman Republic, when Caesar was in power, he specifically enacted a law granting citizenship to foreign doctors and teachers.