Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 29: The Post-War Senate Meeting (Part 2)

Heilos expressed his gratitude for Cornelius's veiled compliment.

Davos said, “Let me recommend a suitable patrol captain for Amendolara.”

Cornelius perked up immediately. “Chief Magistrate, please go ahead.”

“Epithenis. He would make an excellent patrol captain.” Davos pointed to the back row, speaking with conviction.

“Ah?!” Epithenis, who had been whispering with Tsipet, was startled to hear his name called. “Why me?!”

“So you can focus more energy on the administrative affairs of the alliance and set a good example for your soldiers, instead of corrupting the youth of Daonia all day long!” Davos said, half-joking, half-serious.

The others burst into laughter. Everyone knew Epithenis had a fondness for beautiful youths; in truth, quite a few senators shared that inclination, but Epithenis was simply more obvious about it. Among Greeks, loving and mentoring young boys was not just a fashion but a tradition. Though Davos personally found it discomforting, he still respected it and had no desire to force change. Aside from that one trait, what Davos admired most about Epithenis was his ability to think calmly on the battlefield and adapt flexibly to complex situations. Tasks assigned to him were always completed, often exceeding expectations.

Under Davos's strong pressure and Cornelius's repeated pleas, Epithenis finally had no choice but to agree.

Epithenis's expression of helplessness once again sent Amyntas and the others into fits of laughter.

By the time the meeting had progressed to this point, it was already past noon. Cornelius announced a half-hour recess. The slaves, who had been waiting outside the Senate, immediately entered to bring their masters food and water to fill their stomachs.

Even during the half-hour break, Davos had no idle time. He chewed on bread while discussing with Scombrus and Heilos the issues they needed to resolve after taking office, and how the two cities could coordinate and strengthen their ties to respond to any situation that might arise from the south.

Then Kynogoratas approached him to discuss how to arrange for the five newly appointed senators. As senators, their families should naturally be settled in Thurii to facilitate their duties. Even if they served as city administrators elsewhere, they would not move out of their Thurii residences, since the term for a city administrator was only two years, while senators served for life.

There were still many idle public lands within Thurii, controlled by the Senate and not easily granted. Allotting a small parcel to the new senators for building residences would certainly not be free. The Daonia Land Law had clear provisions on this; even Davos had to pay market prices if he wanted to buy land. Due to the massive influx of people over the past year, the price of residential land in Thurii had been rising repeatedly, and after Daonia's defeat of Croton, this upward trend was expected to intensify sharply.

Kynogoratas hoped that the Senate would sell the land to the new senators at the original price, to demonstrate the sincerity of the Daonia Senate and reassure these newcomers.

Davos agreed, and he also considered that if any of the five new senators from Crimissa truly could not afford the money, the treasury could advance the payment, to be repaid later.

The half-hour recess ended, and the Senate meeting resumed.

Davos stood up and presented his first proposal: “Although Daonia emerged victorious in this war with Croton, it exposed some problems. The most important and urgent one that needs to be addressed is the navy!”

As soon as Davos finished speaking, it immediately sparked strong共鸣 among the senators.

“The Chief Magistrate is right! In this war, the greatest damage the Crotonians inflicted on us was their fleet constantly landing to raid, burning down several villages in Thurii, killing many of our people. To this day, Thurii’s public officials are still struggling to resettle the displaced and rebuild their homes!” Kynogoratas complained.

“If Daonia also had a navy, as powerful as our army, then after our victory in the decisive battle, Croton would have surrendered long ago. There would have been no need to besiege Crimissa!” Amyntas emphasized.

“Daonia’s trade is growing more prosperous, and its territory is expanding rapidly. We need a strong fleet to protect our maritime trade, prevent enemy fleets from raiding our long coastline, and keep our ports from being blockaded by enemy warships!” Mariji reminded them loudly.

“Well said! We need a strong navy to safeguard the Daonia Alliance!” Everyone voiced their agreement.

“Since we are all in consensus, my proposal is—” Davos looked around at them and continued, “In addition to accelerating the completion of the three triremes currently under construction, we will build seven more triremes this year. I have asked Eanilus: Thurii’s shipyards do not have enough dry docks to handle such a large order, but Crimissa also has a sizable shipyard capable of building triremes, so we can assign a small part of the order to them. From now on, we will build ten triremes each year, until we have fifty triremes in five years. At the same time, we must also equip twenty medium warships (i.e., hundred-man warships) and ten small warships (fifty-man warships), thus establishing a relatively strong Daonia navy of eighty warships.”

Everyone thought the plan feasible, except Mesis, who objected: “No, no! That would require the alliance to spend over a hundred talents more each year—that’s far too much!”

“It is a bit more, but I believe our treasury can fully bear it. Last year alone, the treasury brought in over 200 talents from land tax, rent tax, and trade tax. And this year, Mariji gives me a conservative estimate of at least double that revenue.” When Davos said this, many senators were taken aback. Unknowingly, Daonia’s treasury income was almost on par with Tarentum and Croton. Spending a small portion to build a fleet should be more than sufficient.

“Honored senators, Lord Mesis, in fact, building ten triremes a year does not cost over a hundred talents.” Mariji stood up and reminded them: “The cost of building warships mainly comes in two parts: timber and construction fees. Within our alliance’s territory—especially in the mountains of Lucania—there are countless high-quality cedars most suitable for building triremes. I’ve heard that Athens once had a special agreement with Thurii, by which Thurii was required to provide Athens with a certain amount of ship timber each year.”

“There was indeed such an agreement: Thurii was to supply Athens with at least a thousand ship timbers annually, and the amount could double when necessary,” Eanilus said. To fulfill that agreement, the people of Thurii had felled trees heavily for decades, earning some money from the timber but depleting the older cedars in the hills around Thurii. Moreover, Athens had over a dozen large shipyards and did not need to have ships built in Thurii, so Eanilus’s family had long resented this. Later, due to overlogging, barren hills appeared around Thurii, and the people realized the drawback. They began purchasing timber from other cities in Magna Graecia and reselling it to Athens for a small profit.

“In the later stages of the war between Athens and Sparta, after the Spartan navy gained dominance, we were forced to cancel this agreement,” Kynogoratas added.

Davos nodded. Having served as Chief Magistrate, he was aware of this agreement. He even thought that the Athenian statesman Pericles, when agreeing to found Thurii and calling for the establishment of a great Panhellenic city-state, had used that as a noble excuse. One of the real strategic goals was to secure timber. After all, Athens had two inherent flaws: first, it did not produce enough grain locally and relied on imports to sustain its large population, which is why it established colonies along the route from Greece to the Black Sea or controlled key cities like Byzantium to ensure the grain shipping route from the Black Sea remained open. It needed a powerful navy, and the Athenians were ambitious to build a strong Mediterranean league of Greek city-states, requiring an even stronger navy. But Athens’s second flaw was that it had few forests of its own, let alone trees suitable for building quality warships. Given the scale of Athens’s navy and merchant fleet, the required timber would be enormous. Thus, finding ship timber became a strategic issue crucial to Athens’s ability to maintain its strength. Egypt had no forests; Persia had timber but would not sell it to its enemy Athens; northern Greece and Thrace had forests, but they were inland, and logging and transport were problematic and costly. Therefore, Magna Graecia, traversed by the Apennine Mountains, became Athens’s key source of timber, and Thurii, founded by Athenians, naturally became the main supplier.

“So, I request the Senate to discuss a plan allowing the alliance’s slaves to fell a certain number of cedars each year as ship timber, which would cost not a single obol. As for the construction fees—” Mariji looked at Eanilus and said with apparent jest, “I imagine Lord Eanilus won’t charge the alliance too high a price.”

Eanilus gave a helpless smile.

Everyone found Mariji’s reasoning reasonable, and their concerns about costs diminished considerably.

“But have you considered the maintenance and upkeep of these warships once they are built? That’s also a considerable expense!” Mesis said, unwilling to concede.

“Eanilus and I have discussed this,” Davos said, and Eanilus nodded to confirm.

“In times of peace, we certainly won’t leave the warships idle at the docks. Apart from a small number patrolling the alliance’s coast and some undergoing repairs in dry docks, the rest can serve as escorts for merchant ships—especially on the route from the Adriatic Sea entrance to mainland Greece, where pirate attacks are frequent. They can also temporarily serve as large cargo ships, delivering goods for friendly city-states… You see, that way they earn maintenance costs for our navy while also training the crews in sailing skills. Isn’t that good?” After Davos finished explaining his idea, Mesis fell silent.

“In addition, we need a qualified commander for this soon-to-be Daonia navy. His immediate tasks are to assist the Military Affairs Officer, Philistos, in overseeing the construction of the warships; to work with the Treasurer, Mesis, in auditing the funds; and later, when the warships are completed, he must recruit oarsmen, assign crews, conduct regular military training, arrange coastal patrols, and—” Davos’s tone grew heavier, “achieve victory in naval battles. Does anyone have suitable candidates to recommend?”