Volume 4: The League of Dionia, Chapter 57: Preparations by Both Sides Before the Start of the War

Pleisinas indeed, when entering the great harbor of Tarentum, did not see the several squadrons of Tarentine warships that normally patrolled the coastal waters. Nevertheless, he still shamelessly petitioned the Tarentine Senate, begging them to send even just a few warships to Thurii.

He had a little scheme in his mind: Since Croton would never dare provoke Tarentum while at war with Daonia, even a few Tarentine warships patrolling the Daonian east coast as a show of force would be enough to deter the enemy, thereby ensuring the basic security of Daonia’s coastline.

But no matter how Pleisinas pleaded, the Tarentine Senate firmly refused, and the thick-skinned man returned empty-handed.

No sooner had Pleisinas arrived back at the harbor of Thurii than the Crotonian fleet appeared. Thurii’s maritime trade routes were immediately cut off, and panic gripped the port.

Olivus rushed over with a large number of patrol members to help Mariji maintain order.

When Davos learned of Tarentum’s decision, he pondered for a moment, then said to the scribe Aristocrates standing beside him: “I seem to recall that the Spartan envoy once went to Tarentum?”

“Yes,” Aristocrates replied. “Aristelas reported at the time: ‘The Spartans wanted Tarentum to annul its alliance with us and take the lead in opposing us, but the Tarentine Senate refused.’”

“But it still had an effect.” Davos sighed, then sneered coldly: Tarentum wants to sit on the hill and watch the tigers fight! Very well, in the end this war must be fought by ourselves.

“Go tell Aristelas that we can close the net on that Crotonian spy.”

“Yes!”

…

The Daonians closed the harbor, which Tlatos had expected. He had already arranged with the Crotonian swift ship that was to rendezvous with him: every night he would leave his intelligence reports on a specific beach at the mouth of the Crati River.

Just as he was beginning to write another secret letter, the door suddenly burst open, and four or five men rushed in.

Startled, he instinctively grabbed the roll of papyrus in his hand and shouted, “Who are you—” before being tackled to the ground by the intruders. His clenched fist was pried open, the papyrus, still unripped, was taken from him, and his face immediately turned ashen.

“This afternoon, about ten thousand fully armed men from Thurii entered the camp, and a thousand heavy infantry were stationed at the harbor. It is said that the citizen soldiers of Amendolara are already on their way to Thurii. Nerulum—” A clear voice rang out above his head: “Tlatos, I have to admit that your powers of observation and arithmetic are impressive. The intelligence you wrote to Croton matches the facts quite well. No wonder Croton sent you to Thurii and let you stay here for half a year. I wonder what you think of this place?”

Hearing this, Tlatos’s heart sank. He already understood that his movements had long been under the control of the Daonians.

When they forced him to his feet, he saw standing before him a thin, tall, middle-aged man with an elegant appearance, who was looking at him with interest.

“What do you intend to do with me?” Tlatos asked in a hoarse, low voice.

The thin man didn’t speak. Instead, he took an object from someone else and held it out in front of Tlatos: it was a crudely carved little wooden knife.

Tlatos’s eyes suddenly widened, and his expression turned terrified. He struggled and shouted: “What have you done to my child?! You’ve captured my child, haven’t you?! He is only seven years old! By Hera, I beg you, spare him!! Spare him!! I will do anything!! …” He begged bitterly, until finally his words dissolved into sobs.

The thin man’s expression turned stern. “Your wife and child are still in the city of Croton, but they are under the watch of our people. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aristelas. I am the intelligence officer for the magistrate Lord Davos (though Davos has promised me this position, I am still a freeman and not yet an official). I am giving you a choice: work for Daonia. If you refuse, you will die, your ailing wife will die of illness because she has no money, and your son will become a slave. If you agree, you will become a preparatory citizen of Daonia. We will do our utmost to rescue your wife and child, and the Alliance’s physicians will treat your wife’s illness. You know that our Alliance’s medical skills are superior to Croton’s!” Aristelas paused, seeing Tlatos with his head bowed and an uncertain expression. He then said in a stern voice: “Life or death—the choice is yours.”

At dusk, Myron, the chief general of Croton, received a secret report from Thurii: This afternoon, Thurii began mustering its citizen soldiers. It was learned that about four thousand citizens had assembled in Victory Square, while the villages outside the city were still being mobilized, and no large groups of citizens had yet entered Thurii. Thurii had sent about a thousand soldiers to garrison the harbor and had dispatched numerous cavalry to patrol the coast. No troops from Amendolara or Nerulum had arrived yet.

Over the past half year, through Tlatos’s intelligence and information learned from released soldiers, Chief General Myron had gained some understanding of Daonia and was quite wary of it. Consequently, he had made preparations well in advance. As soon as he helped Crimissa eliminate its mercenaries, he immediately began a war mobilization. This time, in order to completely defeat Daonia, Croton and its dependent city Asperustum had mustered all the forces they could assemble: twenty thousand from Croton, three thousand from Asperustum. Croton’s ally Scylletium was originally a major city, but in the previous ambush by the Daonia Alliance, it had suffered the most severe losses. Nevertheless, seeking revenge, it still squeezed out two thousand men. Trina, which is close to the Bruttians, also sent a thousand men. This time Croton did not refuse. Only Caulonia’s reinforcements were rejected, because south of Caulonia lies Croton’s enemy, the Locrian League. Although there had been no significant movements from Locri in recent years, Croton knew that Locri had always been eyeing the north covetously. If Locri were to suddenly strike while Croton was at war with Daonia and capture Caulonia, it could then easily take the under-defended Scylletium and threaten the weakened Croton itself… Therefore, vigilance and defense against Locri could never be relaxed.

At the same time, the decisive battle with Daonia had to begin as soon as possible, and they could not wait for all of Daonia’s forces to assemble before attacking. Consequently, Croton, contrary to the usual dilatory pre-war preparations of Greek city-states, proved to be exceptionally efficient this time. Not only did it complete its own muster within a day, but it also urged the allied reinforcements to hurry their march.

In fact, Locri was delighted when it learned of the outbreak of war between Croton and Daonia. After deliberation, its Council sent an envoy to Daonia. However, not only had Croton blocked the land routes to the north, but Crotonian warships also constantly patrolled the waters off the east coast of Magna Graecia, from Cape Alici northward. This forced the Locrian envoy to change course, planning to take a merchant ship southwest to Sicily, then turn northeast to disembark at Tarentum and travel overland in a wide detour.

Davos was in the midst of analyzing Croton’s military intelligence with the generals of the Army Corps and discussing countermeasures when Aristocrates entered and whispered a few words in his ear. Davos nodded and said, “Let them both come in.”

He turned to the generals and said, “Brothers, Xanthiparis and Tolmides are here.”

The previously noisy reception room fell silent.

Xanthiparis and Tolmides hurried in with worried expressions, only to be stunned when they saw so many people in the room.

At that moment, Davos said with a smile, “I was just about to summon you two, but you’ve come on your own. We are about to begin discussing how to deal with the Crotonians. Come in quickly and share your views.”

Xanthiparis and Tolmides exchanged glances, then knelt on one knee and said apologetically: “Lord Davos… and… comrades, we truly… owe you an apology! We have brought war to Daonia and trouble to you! Timasion, Cleanho, and the others have been frequently contacting the mercenaries lately and repeatedly asked for our opinions. We always thought they just wanted to leave here, but we never imagined—“

“What Timasion and the others did has nothing to do with you!” Davos interrupted them, his expression serious and earnest. “Every person has their own thoughts and the kind of life they prefer. You and the other mercenaries chose to stay rather than leave, which shows that you approve of Daonia’s institutions, enjoy living here, and wish to become Daonian citizens. So come, fight alongside us! Before the great army of Croton, the time has come to test you! Prove with your bravery that our trust in you was not misplaced and prove your determination to defend Daonia to the death. Let the Daonian people open their arms to welcome you!”

“Davos is right! Xanthiparis, Tolmides, let us fight together and defeat the Crotonians! And avenge Timasion and the others!”

“Excellent! We can finally fight together again!”

Amyntas, Antonios, and the others all warmly welcomed Xanthiparis and Tolmides, putting them at ease.

Author’s Note: As the Crotonians were assembling their great army to attack the Daonia Alliance, the fourth volume of this book was drawing to a close. Want to know whether Daonia can survive the fierce assault of the Crotonians? Whether it can turn defeat into victory? Please see the next volume: The Hegemon of Southern Italy.

I recall that my previous novel "From City-State to Empire" was stopped exactly when I was about to begin writing this volume, "The Hegemon of Southern Italy." So many years have passed, and it has remained a regret in my heart. This time, rewriting up to this point has fulfilled that long-cherished wish.