Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 37: Leotychides Wrath

"Regarding the supervision of Elis's compliance with the treaty, the cession of land, and the resettlement of immigrants—these matters were temporarily shelved due to Agis's death. I recommended you to the Council to take charge of them. Would you be willing to go?" Agesilaus said seriously.

"I am willing!" Phoebidas blurted out. Lately, aside from military training and attending the king's funeral, he had nothing else to do. Watching others being dispatched overseas one by one to carry out important missions, he couldn't help feeling disappointed. Now, with Agesilaus placing such a lucrative task before him, how could he not be tempted and grateful?

"My sincere thanks to you, King Agesilaus, for your trust in me! Your becoming our king is a gift from Zeus to Sparta!"

Hearing the flattery of Phoebidas, a talented young Spartan, Agesilaus beamed with a smile.

...

After Agesilaus and Phoebidas left, only a dozen or so people remained in the mess hall. A young man with a linen cloth draped over his head sneaked out from behind a column, his gaze fixed on Agesilaus's retreating back, filled with hatred.

He hurriedly went to fetch his share of the communal meal. The cook distributing the food joked, "Leotychides, why are you dressed like that? You look like a woman."

Even a Perioecus dared to mock him. In the past, Leotychides would have angrily beaten him down, perhaps even cut off his limbs, but now the former king's son had no heart for an argument. He found a corner, sat down, and chewed on his bread ravenously. For some reason, tears welled up uncontrollably in his eyes. His defeat in the contest for the throne had made him a laughingstock in Sparta. His usurping uncle had given half the estate left by his father to those needy clansmen, thereby winning the support of the royal family. While people praised Agesilaus's benevolence, some proposed driving him and his mother out of Sparta, on the grounds that 'he and his mother were not Spartans, yet they had become Sparta's disgrace.' Although the Council of Elders rejected this absurd proposal, the Spartans looked at Leotychides with ever-increasing contempt.

"What crime have I committed? Why does the goddess of Fate punish me so? To prove myself, I took part in the agoge—the brutal military training from childhood that the king's sons usually don't have to undergo—and I always excelled in every training session. In every battle, I always fought hardest in the front. My debates always left my peers speechless, and my writings were better than theirs. But why? Why? They don't see any of this; they only use these rumors to humiliate me and my mother! Damn Agesilaus! Damn the Council of Elders! Damn... Agis! If you hadn't treated my mother badly, how could these... how could so many rumors have arisen!..." In the end, Leotychides even began blaming his dead father. "I can no longer endure this humiliation! I will take my mother away from this disgusting place! I will leave Sparta!!..."

Leotychides finally made up his mind. His steps became vigorous and forceful again. As he neared his destination, he saw a crowd gathered around his house, all shaking their heads and sighing, their expressions solemn. A feeling of unease rose in his heart.

"Leotychides!" a clansman with whom he usually had a decent relationship called out to him mournfully. "Your mother... has committed suicide..."

Diopantos's force ravaged the territory of Scylletium. The Scylletium garrison was forced to sally forth to meet the enemy, but the Locrians had already withdrawn early.

The next day, the Locrians appeared again.

When the Scylletium garrison pursued them to the coast, as they had the day before, they found nearly two thousand Locrian soldiers waiting in battle formation.

The Scylletium defenders, having pursued in a broken formation, quickly collapsed. Chased by Locrian cavalry, the Scylletians suffered several hundred casualties before retreating into the city and fortifying it. They sent a messenger to Croton's main army at Caulonia, requesting reinforcements.

As the leader of the alliance, Croton was forced to dispatch 3,000 men to aid Scylletium. However, the Locrians once again withdrew by sea.

While the Crotoniate reinforcements hesitated whether to remain in Scylletium or return to Caulonia, a combined force of 3,000 Locrians, Medmaeans, and Hipponians marched along the west coast, crossed the Lala River, and entered the territory of Trina.

Having learned from Scylletium's experience, the Trinaeans dared not act rashly and instead sent an urgent request for aid to Croton.

No sooner had the Crotoniate reinforcements left Scylletium and entered Trina than the Locrians landed again on the Scylletium coast.

The Crotoniate army was shuttled back and forth, unable to touch a single hair on the Locrians' heads, fuming with pent-up frustration.

Scylletium and Trina were equally miserable. The newly sown farmland was destroyed, and war-weariness among the populace began to grow.

It was at this time that the Crotoniates finally learned the truth: the more than twenty warships that had suddenly appeared during the naval battle were not secretly built by Locri over the past year, but were aid from Syracuse.

This news threw the Crotoniate envoys into a panic...

During this period, back in Thurii, Davos was either handling alliance affairs or staying home with his wife, looking after his newborn child, and educating his adopted children. His days were full and happy. Even when the envoy from Croton had previously rushed to Thurii to request aid from Daonia, it had not caused him any anxiety, because Heilos and Asiastes had quickly repelled the Locrians who had invaded Croton's territory.

In response, the senators of the Senate praised Davos for choosing the right Chief Magistrate for Asperustum.

In his letters to Heilos and Asiastes, Davos highly commended them for decisively taking the correct measures under such complex circumstances and encouraged them to act boldly when the situation was critical, without being overly concerned about his feelings or waiting for the Senate's orders, thus missing the opportunity.

The excellent performance of Heilos and the others also put Davos completely at ease. He devoted more energy to the resettlement work of immigrants in Asperustum and Crimissa.

But at this moment, he learned from Aristelas that "the envoys from Croton, Scylletium, Trina, and Caulonia are traveling north together." Considering the war situation between Croton and Locri that Aristelas had been reporting to him these past days, the purpose of these city-state envoys coming to Thurii was obvious.

Davos's first thought: this was a rare opportunity to expand Daonia's strength and influence. Comparatively speaking, going to war with Locri was not unacceptable.

But then he began to hesitate. Thanks to Aristelas of Catana, who paid "special attention" to Syracuse, Davos also learned the truth about Croton's defeat in the naval battle. Syracuse was Locri's true ally, and it had even sent reinforcements in this war. If Davos were to fight Locri, he would inevitably offend Syracuse. Was it worth it?

Davos had to consider this carefully.

In his previous life, he did not know much about Syracuse's history. He only knew of Archimedes and that Syracuse was one of the main instigators of the First Punic War. The Romans easily crushed Syracuse, making Syracuse's strength seem negligible. But one must know that was when the Romans used the full force of Italy to strike at Syracuse in its decline.

When Davos had transmigrated into this era of the Mediterranean world, he felt in Magna Graecia the awe that the Greek city-states of Italy held for this great Sicilian power, Syracuse. Decades ago, Syracuse had repelled Carthage and dominated Sicily and Magna Graecia. Now it seemed to be regaining its former glory and was on a trend toward unifying the Greek city-states of Sicily. Although Sicily was just an island, its soil was fertile—it was a famous wheat-producing region in the western Mediterranean (mainly due to volcanic ash), and the Greeks had heavily colonized and developed it early. Moreover, Sicily's location near the center of the Mediterranean made it a vital hub for trade between the eastern and western Mediterranean, so both its commerce and agriculture were relatively developed. Just considering that Syracuse, occupying only the southeastern part of Sicily, could organize such a large army, one could imagine its immense war potential. How could that be compared with Daonia, which was still in its infancy?

But Davos was not a frog at the bottom of a well, ignorant of potential dangers. On the contrary, his past life was full of countless examples and theories of political economy, geopolitics, etc., all telling him that no matter how Daonia tried to avoid it, once Syracuse truly defeated Carthage and unified the Greek city-states of Sicily, the rapidly rising Daonia at its side would inevitably draw its attention. Daonia would become an obstacle to Syracuse's expansion, or even the next target to strike. So it would be better to seize the opportunity while Syracuse was bogged down in its war with Carthage to strengthen itself, so that it would have the strength to confront Syracuse in the future.

Thus, after careful deliberation, Davos finally made his decision and persuaded the Senate.

Sisprontis was the envoy from Croton. Because he had accompanied Lysias in successfully concluding a truce and alliance treaty with Daonia, and later single-handedly "persuaded" the Daonian garrison at Asperustum to send troops to help Croton repel the Locrians, almost everyone in the Crotoniate Council (except Lysias) unanimously selected him to go as envoy to Daonia. For the first time, he was held in such high regard by the Crotoniate councilors. The envoys from the other three city-states traveling with him also looked up to him as their leader along the way, so Sisprontis inevitably felt a bit puffed up.

Entering Thurii, the envoys felt that this new city did not have the prosperity and expanse of Croton's urban area, but it also lacked its crowding and noise.