Volume 3: The First Croton War, Chapter 33: The Slave Turmoil

A few days later, Kynogoratas, still bedridden from his injuries, heard of something: a portion of the slaves in the Thurii stone quarries had rebelled, overpowered their guards, and fled Thurii. Some of those slaves had even escaped to Amendolara seeking protection, and shortly afterward, an envoy from Thurii arrived, demanding that Amendolara return the slaves.

Now, in the Senate chamber of Amendolara, the Thurii envoy and the representatives of the runaway slaves glared at each other.

Plesinas, the newly appointed general of Thurii—if Kynogoratas were here, he would surely recognize this man as one of the chief instigators who whipped up the Thurii populace to drive him out—now faced the senators of Amendolara and shouted his accusations: "Amendolara is an ally of Thurii! Is this how you treat the envoy of an allied city-state?! To let a lowly slave stand alongside a noble general of Thurii—this is an insult to Thurii! If Amendolara does not give a friendly response to Thurii's demands, Thurii will reconsider its alliance with Amendolara!"

As soon as he said this, the senators seated on the wooden chairs erupted in uproar.

Just then, the ephor Antonios stood up and said, "Respected envoy of Thurii, regarding Thurii's demands, we have not yet begun to discuss them. Unexpectedly, as soon as you entered, you walked straight to the center of the assembly. I forgot to remind you—your seat is here." Antonios pointed to a position on the side at the front of the chamber. "I believe that a noble envoy from Thurii should understand the diplomatic protocols of city-states better than we do. Without permission, a foreign envoy should remain silent."

The senators burst into laughter.

Plesinas was not at all embarrassed. He ignored the remark, pointed at the slave, and continued loudly: "Nor have I heard of any important matters being discussed between city-states with a slave listening in! The Senate of Amendolara is such a sacred place—how can a base slave be allowed to defile it?!"

"This is because, as the representative of the slaves who fled to Amendolara, his demands concern both Amendolara and Thurii. I believe it is necessary to let him state his demands again, so that we noble men may conduct a fair discussion and judge whether his demands are reasonable. Now, respected envoy of Thurii, do you intend to stand there forever, preventing our meeting from truly beginning?" Davos, seated at the very front in the center, spoke in a calm tone that carried authority, causing Plesinas to sit down in his seat with displeasure.

"Slave, you may now state your demands," Cornelius, the City Administrator and rotating chairman of the Senate, said loudly.

The slave bowed respectfully and said, "Honored lords, my name is Aristokrates. First, I wish to clarify that I was not born base. My father was a nobleman from Cyrenaica, primarily dealing in silphium. He owned hundreds of slaves and a very large farm. Eight years ago, my father took me by ship to watch the games at Olympia. On the voyage, we encountered pirates... My father... my father was killed... and I was sold at Thurii..."

Aristokrates took a deep breath, suppressing the grief that surged in his heart, and continued: "Despite my misfortune, I have not complained much—perhaps this is the gods' punishment on me. In Thurii, I diligently fulfilled the tasks my master gave me and never shirked... until two months ago, when the city gathered us together and marched us to the mercenary camp. My lord, you stood before us and called on us to fight for Thurii." Aristokrates bowed respectfully again to Davos. "You also said, 'If we achieve victory, we shall gain freedom!' For freedom, we who had never held weapons took up arms! For freedom, we who had never killed fought against the fierce Lucanians! And it was these fierce Lucanians who defeated Thurii, but freedom made us fearless! We fought bravely, and when the war was won, more than half of our two thousand slaves were dead..."

Aristokrates lightly sniffed, and the new citizen senators felt dazed, as if they were once again in that life-or-death battle.

"We awaited that thrilling moment, but what came were cold steel and spears! Thurii was saved, but we were sent back to those dark, damp mine pits, carrying heavy ore once more. We protested, but we were only beaten and starved... Just as we were in despair, we heard a rumor: the mercenary slaves who fought alongside us had all become freemen and might even become city citizens in the future. Why was it that we, also slaves who had fought desperately for Thurii, got two completely different outcomes?! So, unwilling as we were, we attacked the mine guards, fled here, and came to ask you, my lord: Are the vows you swore in the name of the gods still valid?!"

Aristokrates' vivid and emotional account moved the senators present, and the chamber fell silent for a moment. Only Plesinas shouted, "He is lying! They are not the slaves who fought in the battle at all!"

Antonios immediately rose and said, "As to whether they are the slaves who fought in the battle, we have a way to verify this. Because the freemen of the city fought alongside them and spent a night and a day with them, and are relatively familiar with them. I have already sent them to the holding area for the slaves to identify them. I request that representatives of the freemen be allowed to enter the Senate to testify."

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

The senators approved one after another, and Plesinas's objections were completely drowned out.

During this respite, Davos looked with interest at this Aristokrates—full-bearded, with several scars on his face, dark-skinned, slightly hunched, but still revealing a youthful visage—and asked, "The question you asked me earlier, I will answer later. Now I want to ask you: Judging from your speech, you have clearly received a good education. Why did you become a slave mining ore?" Slaves with good education like Aristokrates usually commanded a high price and would never be wasted on the dirty, hard labor that only ordinary slaves did.

Aristokrates smiled bitterly: "Initially, I was bought by a wealthy merchant in Thurii, who had me manage his vineyard and winery. I did my work well and gained his deep trust. He even said he would grant me freedom... Unfortunately, he died of illness... His wife quickly remarried, and my new master gave me as a free gift to the city of Thurii, which was then in need of slaves for the mines. So I ended up there..."

There must be some complex details behind that, but seeing Aristokrates's calm expression, it was clear he had made peace with it. Davos said appreciatively, "I think the gods are not punishing you, but tempering you!"

Upon hearing this, Aristokrates suddenly felt excited inside, sensing something in those words.

At that moment, the freemen representatives entered the chamber. After swearing by the gods, they gave their answer: these runaway slaves had indeed participated in the battle.

Plesinas refused to give in. He stood up and retorted, "It is common for city-states to have slaves fight in battles! For example, Sparta often has Helots fight alongside them and has won countless victories. Does Sparta grant Helots freedom? Obviously not! Given the long-standing friendship between Thurii and Amendolara and the busy trade between them in recent times, I do not believe that Magistrate Davos would have made such a promise. This slave is clearly lying! Returning lost property to its owner is a virtue of the Greeks! I again demand that the Senate of Amendolara return these slaves, who are property of Thurii, to Thurii!"

Aristokrates's expression shifted slightly as he looked at Davos.

Davos, looking at the proud and stubborn Plesinas, sneered inwardly: This man from Thurii had just implicitly threatened him and Amendolara!

He stood up, his expression grave, and said to Aristokrates, "The question you asked me, I can now answer. I, Davos, the lifelong magistrate of Amendolara, make promises that, like the blazing flames of the Underworld, will never die out! Yes, I did promise that after the victory, you would gain your freedom! Because you were slaves of Thurii, I had Bourkos bear witness, and I had him write my promise on paper, then rush back to Thurii to ask the generals to sign it. Before the battle began, when Bourkos hurried back trying to persuade us to return, I reaffirmed my promise to you in front of Burkes. But I did not expect that, even to this day, you would still be in chains!"

Davos's expression was heavy as he said loudly, "You saved Thurii, and Thurii has wronged you! You helped the mercenaries, and Amendolara also owes you! I request the envoy of Thurii to grant them their freedom!"

The moment Davos finished speaking, the senators shouted in unison: "Grant them their freedom! Since you swore by the gods, you should give these pitiable yet admirable slaves their freedom, men of Thurii!"

Plesinas, flustered, tried to cheat: "Thurii has never seen any agreement granting them freedom! I have never seen one either! Lord Davos, you must have misremembered! Yes, you must have misremembered!"

Note: Silphium, said to be a type of laserwort, was produced in abundance in the city-state of Cyrenaica in ancient times. It was used as a valuable fodder to promote livestock fertility, as a food seasoning, and most importantly, it was said to enhance male virility. As a result, it was highly popular throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and became the pillar industry of Cyrenaica, earning vast sums of money. Thus, Cyrenaica even minted coins and books bearing the plant's image. Unfortunately, too many men in the Mediterranean needed it, leading to its eventual extinction. Now, true silphium can no longer be found.