Volume 3: The First Croton War, Chapter 39: Burning the City

“The Crotonians have already bullied us to our doorstep! Why don’t our soldiers give them a taste of their own medicine?!” Even Strombopoli, who had previously wanted to compromise with Croton, was now also filled with anger.

“The soldiers have all obeyed Lord Davos’s orders and guarded the city strictly, but they wish they could eat the Crotonians’ flesh raw!” Amyntas vented his resentment to Davos.

“Magistrate, are we just going to watch the Crotonians run wild on our land?!” Scombrus shouted unwillingly.

“Of course not!” Davos answered firmly in a loud voice, a strange light flashing in his eyes. “A fist is drawn back so it can be thrown out better. The Crotonian army is stronger than ours—that is a fact. So we must wait, just like a skilled boxer who always defends first, waiting for the opponent to show an opening before striking a fatal blow!” The crowd in the assembly room was shaken by his words.

…

By the time Archytas came ashore in Thurii, Melanthius had already returned to the city.

Archytas, on behalf of Tarentum, lodged a serious protest with him. Melanthius said dismissively, “Croton bears no ill will toward Amendolara. I only wanted to go out and greet this young magistrate, who is said to be able to defeat a larger force with a smaller one. I never expected he would be so cowardly that he wouldn’t even come out to meet me!”

Archytas breathed a temporary sigh of relief, then threw down a harsh warning: “If Croton goes to war against Amendolara, Tarentum will unite with Metapontum and Heraclea, and will not hesitate to go to war with Croton!” At the same time, he advised Melanthius: “Since Croton has already occupied Thurii, washed away its disgrace, and won great glory, you should now lead your army back to Croton and let this land return to peace. I believe that Locri and Tarentum will both be very pleased!”

Melanthius naturally understood the threat in Archytas’s words; he kept a sullen face and did not respond.

After completing his mission as an envoy, Archytas hurried to Amendolara.

At the foot of the mountain, he saw the ruins of warehouses and inns that had been burned to ashes, still emitting residual smoke, and his heart tightened again.

Entering the city, he saw the anger on the faces of the citizens one by one. So, as soon as he saw Davos, he expressed sympathy and concern for all that Amendolara had suffered, then said frankly: “Davos, Tarentum has no intention of going to war with Croton for now. I hope you can understand.”

“Rest assured, although we are angry at Croton’s actions, we can still restrain ourselves,” Davos said calmly. “If a person is bitten by a dog, can he bite back?”

Archytas did not laugh. The calmer Davos appeared, the more uneasy he felt: recalling that after annihilating the Lucanian coalition, the Tarentine soldiers were all celebrating victory. But Davos and his men had gone back to camp to sleep, saying they needed to recover their greatly depleted strength, only to tell him the next day, ‘We recaptured Amendolara!’

When the Tarentine envoy arrived in Croton, the Council in the Croton city hall was engaged in heated debate over “the follow-up matters regarding the occupation of Thurii.”

Conservatives like the general Lysias suggested: after plundering Thurii’s wealth, install a puppet government friendly to Croton, then withdraw to avoid provoking discontent among neighboring city-states.

The radical chief general Myron (sharing the same name as the famous Crotonian athlete Myron from a hundred years ago, who was so legendary that he was regarded as a hero of Croton, and many subsequent Crotonian children were named Myron by their parents) argued: Thurii and Croton had already formed a deep enmity, making it difficult to maintain a puppet government. Moreover, it was too close to Tarentum. If a garrison were kept, it would not only drain Croton’s own strength but also, over time, incite even more resentment from the local populace and Tarentum. The best course was to burn the city!

“Burn the city?!” The other generals and councilors were shocked.

“That’s right, burn it!” Myron said passionately. “Our ancestors defeated Sybaris, destroyed the city twice, and the last time they dug the Crati River channel and used a flood to wash away Sybaris, earning a fearsome reputation that shook Magna Graecia, bringing Croton prosperity and hegemony over this region! But since we were defeated by the combined forces of Locri and Rhegium decades ago, some city-states no longer respect us and secretly oppose us. We need to re-establish Croton’s authority! Now, a great opportunity lies before us—a gift from the gods! If we miss it, we will instead be punished! Moreover, by destroying Thurii, the Sybaris Plain will temporarily become no-man’s land. We can first recruit immigrants from friendly city-states in Greece or elsewhere, build a new city on the Sybaris Plain, and then send some of our landless citizens over to become new immigrants of the new city. The surrounding city-states will find no fault with us, and Croton’s influence will extend northward, strengthening our power…”

Myron’s words were both inspiring and practical, winning the approval of most of the Council.

So, a messenger from Croton quickly arrived in Thurii. Melanthius, who had been idle with nothing to do, received the order from the Croton city government and actually became excited, gesticulating wildly: “As the third general to destroy a city-state on the Sybaris Plain, I will surely go down in history!”

He acted swiftly. First, he ordered the freemen who had submitted to him to immediately build a pontoon bridge over the Crati River using boats (the original bridge had been burned by the Thurians).

Then he fabricated charges, claiming to punish those who had incited the killing of the Crotonian envoy. As a result, he arrested the wealthy merchants of Thurii, torturing, imprisoning, and even executing them, while confiscating all their household wealth.

Soon, the impatient Melanthius found this method too slow and lacked patience, so he simply ordered: Loot all the grain and property in the city!

Instantly, wailing filled the entire city of Thurii. The Thurian citizens lying on the ground and howling in grief never imagined that a more terrible disaster would soon befall them…

The Amendolara scouts who had been patrolling and observing outside Thurii saw from afar Crotonian soldiers escorting a vast procession of Thurian citizens out of the city.

Not long after, smoke rose from all over the city, and soon a great fire broke out…

The scouts immediately reported back to Laedes.

Laedes was shocked upon hearing this and quickly rode his horse across the Saraceno River to confirm.

By then, Thurii had become a city of flames, and the citizens outside were crying out in anguish…

Soon, Davos received this urgent news and was stunned: Croton was destroying the city! Were they about to withdraw?!

Asiastes cursed Croton’s brutality on the side, but Davos sat down, stroked his chin, and pondered the significance of this great event for Amendolara.

Then Asiastes saw Davos stand up again, pacing back and forth in the hall with a very strange expression.

When he was getting a bit dizzy from watching, Davos suddenly asked in a slightly trembling voice: “If the Crotonian army sets out now, about where would they reach by dusk?”

Asiastes thought for a moment and said: “They are carrying so much baggage, they probably won’t move fast. By dusk, they can probably only reach Castron.”

“Would Castron let the army enter the city?” Davos asked urgently.

“How could they! These fellows just looted and burned Thurii!”

Davos nodded. Asiastes’ view aligned with his own. He paced a few more steps, then finally made up his mind and said: “Go inform Laedes to closely monitor whether the pontoon bridge on the Crati River has been burned! At the same time, send Izam’s mountain scout squad to track and observe the Crotonian army’s march—where they camp, how it’s arranged… all the details, but stay hidden, don’t let the Crotonians discover them! I want him to send someone to report to me at any time!”

“Yes!” Asiastes replied excitedly. Having followed Davos for so long, he knew that Davos must be brewing a major action. Still young, he couldn’t help asking with agitation: “Lord, are you planning to attack this Crotonian army?!”

“Whether we attack or not depends on whether the Crotonians give us an opportunity!” Davos sneered. “That vicious wolf Croton has incurred a mountain of blood debts and wants to return easily—it won’t be that simple. I believe that the impartial Hades will favor us! It’s time for us to show our fangs!”

Davos spoke with righteous indignation, but there was another reason that made him resolve: the destruction of Thurii had vaguely revealed to him an opportunity even greater than attacking Lucania—an opportunity to rapidly strengthen Amendolara! And this would require him to gamble once again!

A Senate meeting was urgently convened. When Davos announced the news that “Thurii has been burned,” the senators were not surprised; they had already digested this shocking bad news before coming. However, the older citizens had mixed feelings. They had once hated Thurii’s selfishness, which caused heavy losses to Amendolara, but when an even worse retribution befell Thurii, they found that they did not feel much satisfaction. Instead, compassion outweighed hatred.

But then Davos said indignantly: “Croton’s crimes must be punished! As allies of Thurii, we in Amendolara have the duty to avenge the Thurian people! Of course, we must also tell Croton that the Sybaris Plain is not a place they can come and go as they please! I declare a war mobilization of Amendolara to prepare to attack the Crotonian army!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the assembly erupted in uproar.

“Excellent! We should have given those damned Crotonians a good beating long ago!” Amyntas shouted excitedly.