Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 23: Son

“But those are our Daonia spoils of war, nothing to do with Laüs or Castron!” Bacule immediately expressed disagreement.

“Bacule, don’t rush. Do you know how the Daonia Alliance treaty is worded?” Davos asked patiently.

Bacule shook his head. He had only been a Daonia citizen for half a year and hadn’t even fully grasped the alliance’s laws, let alone these treaties.

“When the Daonia Alliance goes to war, all allied city-states must send troops to participate, and the spoils of war are distributed fairly...” Asiastes said from the side.

“That’s right, fair distribution!” Davos emphasized loudly. “As allies of Daonia, Laüs immediately dispatched three thousand men as soon as they learned we had declared war on Croton, led personally by their magistrate Avinogis. And Castron not only refused Croton’s overtures but also gave us enormous help during the battle. These two allies gave their full support to Daonia in this war. Would we Daonians be so stingy as to deny them a share of the spoils? If so, which city-state would be willing to fight alongside us in the future? I think it wouldn’t matter even if we gave them all the spoils, because we still possess something more precious—”

Davos slowly uttered a single word to Hieronymus, Bacule, and Asiastes: “Land.”

The three immediately understood: spoils could be shared, but the land won in war belonged solely to Daonia. Daonia was essentially using allied soldiers to expand its own territory—quite a profitable deal.

“Commander, speaking of land, there’s a situation I need to report to you.” Asiastes interjected. “Quite a few Lucanian soldiers from the Third Army Corps feel that the mountainous area around Asperustum is very suitable for grazing—even better than Nerulum. They’ve asked me if they can obtain allotments here.”

“You mean they’re requesting ‘allotments’ for themselves?” Davos’s reaction was quick; he immediately caught the implication of Asiastes’ words.

“Yes.” Asiastes said with difficulty. “Since their tribes were already assigned settlement areas in Nerulum before, I’m not sure if they can acquire land as individuals.”

Davos didn’t answer directly but looked at Bacule and asked, “Did you know about this?”

“I did.” Bacule replied honestly. “Asiastes discussed it with me. Most of the warriors requesting their own ‘allotments’ come from the various tribes now in Nerulum. They see Greek soldiers owning their own land while they still have to share with the tribe, so they’ve made this request to ‘leave the tribe and live on their own.’”

Davos watched him and continued, “Do you think their request is reasonable?”

“I think it’s entirely reasonable!” Bacule answered without a second thought, not considering how Davos might feel, which made Asiastes a bit worried. “The ‘allotments’ the warriors fought and died for should belong to them personally. Separating out will also help them integrate into the Daonia Alliance more easily.”

A smile appeared on Davos’s face. “I’m glad you think that way. But what about the chieftains of those Lucanian tribes?”

“I don’t think they’ll oppose it.” Bacule had obviously thought about this issue as well. “In the past, the Lucanian tribes recruited people to survive and grow stronger. Now they’re under the protection of the Daonia Alliance and no longer face a survival crisis. On the contrary, the warriors leaving will leave the tribes with more abundant land—that’s a good thing.”

“I do agree to give allotments to these Lucanian warriors who want independence.” Davos’s words brought smiles to Bacule and Asiastes’ faces, but Davos paced back and forth as he thought: He was happy to see these Lucanian tribes broken up and eventually fully integrated into the alliance, but he worried that hasty actions might anger the smaller tribal chieftains and hinder future Daonian penetration into the Lucanian region to the north. So caution was needed. “But before that, after we return to Thurii, I’ll first send your father and Hemon to Nerulum to sound out the attitudes of those tribal chieftains and try to win them over. Therefore, the distribution of these soldiers’ ‘allotments’ may be delayed…”

Bacule and Asiastes agreed.

“If some soldiers from the Third Army Corps also settle here, training and assembling the entire corps will become very troublesome in the future!” Hieronymus raised an objection at this point.

Davos laughed. “It’s not just the Third Corps. Quite a few soldiers from the First and Second Corps will likely settle in Asperustum and Crimissa too. Who’s to blame that we acquired so much land so quickly? If we don’t distribute this land to the citizens, preparatory citizens, and registered freemen in the corps who have rendered military service, will we just leave it idle for the enemy to attack! Once the land is distributed, we’ll probably have more than three corps… As for the specific arrangements of personnel and organization, I will gather with Philistos (Military Affairs Officer), Raphias (Registrar), Bourkos (Agricultural Affairs Officer), as well as you, Capus, Drax, and the battalion commanders to discuss a suitable plan…”

Hieronymus had no choice but to agree, while Bacule and Asiastes were a bit excited: the expansion of the army meant they too might have a chance to become legion commanders.

At that moment, Davos also realized that in less than a year since arriving in Thurii, he had experienced four wars. With successive victories, land, population, and army had expanded as if inflated by a bellows! Perhaps it was time to slow down and properly consolidate the alliance internally.

“Hey, isn’t that Aristocrates!” Izam suddenly exclaimed loudly.

Everyone hurried to look down from the city wall. Indeed, they saw Aristocrates riding up to the moat, about to signal to be let in.

It was almost dark. For Aristocrates to come looking for him at this hour, it must be something important! Thinking this, Davos quickly descended from the wall.

Just as he reached the city gate, Aristocrates had already entered. Seeing Davos, despite his fatigue, he grinned. “Lord Davos, there’s good news in today’s letters from Thurii! Congratulations—your wife gave birth to a son yesterday morning!”

Davos was ecstatic. He took a deep breath, but his excitement and elation didn’t diminish one bit. “A child! I have a child!! My child!!!…” He suddenly punched Hieronymus beside him and shouted with joy.

“Congratulations, Lord! This is Hera’s blessing!!!…” Hieronymus, Bacule, Asiastes, and even the nearby soldiers who heard the news all offered their congratulations.

Davos couldn’t stop smiling. He warmly embraced each of them to express his inner joy, even teasing them that they should work harder and not fall too far behind him.

Then he planned to rush back to Crimissa with his escort, quickly settle all matters, and then return to Thurii under cover of night. But Hieronymus and the others strongly objected, even going against Davos’s wishes to forcibly keep him in Asperustum for the night. Because it was already dark—the road back was downhill, crisscrossed by rivers, and the war had just ended. If anything happened, they couldn’t justify it to the people of Daonia.

…

The next afternoon, Christhoya finished feeding the child and fell into a deep sleep.

Asuna had just taken the baby into the courtyard to sunbathe for a while when she noticed he had soiled himself. She had to go back to the outer bedroom, wash him with warm water, change his diaper for a clean one, and order the other slave women to take the dirty clothes away to be washed.

Then she put the baby back in his crib, leaned over the edge, and began to sing softly to him. Gradually the child closed his eyes. Asuna also took the chance to doze off beside the crib. Half asleep, she felt someone gently tap her shoulder. “Asuna.”

She woke with a start, turned around, and couldn’t believe her eyes. “Master, you’re back!”

Davos made a silencing gesture. “How is Christhoya’s health?” he asked quietly.

“Lord Helpus says both she and the child are healthy, but Madam still needs to recuperate for a while. She’s asleep in the bedroom now.” Asuna whispered, stepping aside. “Master, come see the little master—he’s adorable!”

Davos tiptoed closer, excited and curious as he studied his child carefully. Truth be told, a baby only a few days old—with red, wrinkled skin—wasn’t really beautiful. But Davos was utterly captivated. He couldn’t help reaching out one finger to gently touch the baby’s delicate little face.

The sleeping child seemed to feel the tickle and scratched his face with a tiny hand.

Davos found it amusing and touched him again.

As the child scratched his face, he opened a pair of big, bright blue eyes. Father and son gazed at each other at close range. Then the child’s little mouth twisted, and he burst into loud wails.

Whether in his past life or this one, Davos was a father for the first time, utterly inexperienced. He was at a complete loss.

Asuna calmly picked up the child and began to soothe him softly.

“Asuna, is the baby hungry again?” Christhoya’s weak voice came from the bedroom.

“No, the master is back!” Asuna said excitedly.

“Ah!” Christhoya cried out in surprise.

Davos strode into the bedroom. Christhoya was lying on the bed, looking a bit tired, but in good spirits.

“You’re back!” Her eyes sparkled with joy.

“I’m back!” Davos sat on the edge of the bed, leaned down, and kissed his wife.

“You went through a lot,” he said softly.

Christhoya propped herself up and nestled into Davos’s arms, her face radiant with happiness. “Have you seen our child?!”