Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 42: Peace in Southern Italy under the Dominion of Dionia

Upon receiving the news, the Locrians were shocked but also felt a measure of awe. For decades, Locri had sought a single victory over Croton in vain, yet the newly formed Daonia Alliance had twice defeated Croton with inferior numbers.

Of course, for Locri, what mattered more was that Croton had suffered heavy losses and was now locked in a bitter struggle with Daonia. This was truly an ideal opportunity! Unable to wait for news from their envoy Metrophanes, Locri began planning an attack on the Croton Alliance. To crush their mortal enemy in one blow, they mobilized for war within their own alliance and also, through Demodokas—the chief general of Locri and brother of Dionysius's wife—sent a request for aid to Syracuse. At that time, Syracuse had already launched its war against Carthage. Its powerful army was capturing towns one after another, while its navy had yet to encounter the enemy. Apart from some warships escorting the army along the coast, the rest remained anchored in the Great Harbor of Syracuse awaiting orders.

Partly out of friendship for Locri, but more so in preparation for the future, Dionysius dispatched over twenty triremes to assist the Locrians.

With Syracuse backing them, Locri eagerly launched the war.

Unexpectedly, Daonia once again reached a truce with Croton. Not only did they sign a defensive alliance treaty, but they also released all prisoners. Envoy Metrophanes, feeling deceived, returned to Locri in anger.

The Locrians were furious. Daonia had repeatedly ignored Locri's goodwill and deliberately or inadvertently obstructed Locri's plans. However, because they were now fully committed to dealing with their mortal enemy Croton and did not wish to create new complications, they swallowed their anger for the time being, planning to settle the score later. At the same time, Locri began to view Daonia with caution.

In the subsequent battle with Croton, though there were minor setbacks, the naval battle ended in a great victory thanks to the reinforcements from Syracuse. Lacking naval protection, Croton's forces were undermanned, and Locri maneuvered them back and forth until Croton was stretched thin and fell into a passive position.

Just as Locri began to see hope of victory, news came: envoys from the Croton Alliance had gathered in Thurii to request reinforcements from Daonia!

The thing Locri feared most had happened. Given Metrophanes's previous unsatisfactory performance, they immediately sent their most eloquent speaker, Panticapes. But his arrival not only failed to change Daonia’s mind but instead accelerated the formation of the South Italy Alliance.

As Panticapes left Thurii, he angrily said to the senators of the Daonia Senate: "Apollo can bear witness: we Locrians have always held Daonia in respect. Yet every olive branch we offered has been met with malicious deceit and mockery. From this day forward, Locri and Daonia are enemies! When we come again, there will be no envoys of peace, but the wrath of Ares and a mighty army!"

The senators' expressions darkened slightly. Davos calmly replied: "Last time, before the Crotonians launched their war, their envoy stood right where you now stand and said similar words. And now?"

Though Davos appeared relaxed, he knew that Locri now dominated the sea. Once war was declared, Daonia might well suffer the same fleet attacks that Croton’s navy had carried out before. Therefore, he reassembled Laedes' cavalry squadron to patrol the coast, and also reinstated the measures Philistos had taken to counter a sudden raid by Croton's fleet. Meanwhile, the Senate suspended the migration of settlers to Asperustum and Crimissa.

But several days passed without incident.

...

The First Army Corps arrived at Asperustum, where over a thousand garrison troops joined, bringing the total combat strength to over ten thousand.

Five days later, the army reached Caulonia. The journey proceeded relatively smoothly with no accidents. The arrival took two days longer than originally planned, owing to underestimating the poor road conditions in southern Magna Graecia and the warm hospitality of the people when passing through Scylletium.

When the Daonian reinforcements arrived at the battlefield, the Caulonians were overjoyed. They planned to launch an attack on the Locrian camp south of the city as soon as the Daonians finished resting. But before this plan could be carried out, Locri sent envoys to negotiate peace...

A century ago, after Croton defeated Sybaris, it quickly became a powerful state in Magna Graecia, developing ambitions to dominate southern Italy. It launched repeated invasions to the south. In the most serious campaign, Locri and the allied armies of neighboring city-states were steadily pushed back. Ultimately, to avoid Sybaris's fate, Locri and Rhegium joined forces. Seizing an opportunity when Croton grew careless, they counterattacked and dealt a heavy blow to Croton's main army.

Croton's strength was greatly diminished, and it could no longer strike south. To prevent Croton from recovering, Locri and Rhegium began a prolonged counterattack against Croton's allies. They even allied with the Bruttians, the native people north of the Croton Alliance. For decades, Croton was harried by the Bruttians to the north and threatened by the arms of Locri and Rhegium to the south, constantly struggling to respond and never able to regain its former might. Thus, when Athens sought to establish Thurii on the Sybarite plain, Croton had no choice but to yield and sign an agreement.

However, the cooperation between Locri and Rhegium was not seamless. Once Croton's threat diminished, tensions between the two began to surface. Their biggest conflict was that both were coastal cities, located close to each other, making competition over port trade inevitable. Rhegium, controlling half the Strait of Messina, held the upper hand in maritime trade. Locri, on the other hand, opened an overland trade route from Locri to Medma and Hipponion—both cities on the west coast of Magna Graecia. This allowed Greek merchants to reach the west coast via land routes without passing through the Strait of Messina and paying high tariffs, thereby siphoning off much of Rhegium's profits as a transit port for Western Mediterranean trade...

These accumulated tensions finally erupted a few years ago.

Dionysius, having just become plenipotentiary general of Syracuse, had lost his wife in an earlier power struggle when angry citizens killed her. As a widower, he wished to remarry, and for a tyrant, this also served as a political marriage to secure his power. Thus, after marrying the daughter of a prominent noble who supported him in Syracuse, he sought another wife. His gaze fell upon Rhegium, separated from Sicily by only a strait. Partly because Rhegium's geographical position was too important, and partly because a woman of great beauty was renowned there.

But the Rhegians refused. They were wary of Dionysius, who had become tyrant of Syracuse. They had not forgotten how, decades earlier, under the tyranny of Hieron of Syracuse, Rhegium had been coveted, forcing it to ally with Carthage to protect itself.

Dionysius then turned to Locri for a marriage alliance, and Locri agreed. This caused the alliance between Locri and Rhegium to completely collapse.

Why didn't Dionysius approach Croton or Thurii? Because during the Peloponnesian War, Croton and Thurii had sided with Athens, even providing aid when the Athenian army attacked Syracuse. As for Tarentum, it was a Spartan colony, always close to Sparta, which meant little to Dionysius.

Rhegium's departure left Locri isolated and unable to cause trouble for Croton. Only after Daonia twice inflicted heavy losses on Croton did Locri's hopes rekindle.

While mobilizing for war, Locri also sent envoys to the Bruttians. The Bruttians, who had previously responded eagerly to Locri's invitations, now refused Locri's request. Their reason: the previous year, they had attacked Trina on their own and suffered heavy losses, needing time to recover.

But Locri's envoys noticed that Cosentia and the surrounding Bruttian tribes seemed to be undergoing some kind of reform.

With the aid of the Syracusan navy, Locri attacked the Croton Alliance. As it turned out, even with Croton's strength greatly reduced, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Though Locri held the upper hand, they could not achieve a quick victory.

Now Daonia had entered the war, and for Locri, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

After their diplomatic failure with Daonia, the Locrians immediately sought aid from Syracuse. Dionysius received the hastily arriving Locrian envoys in the recently captured city of Selinus.

After hearing their request, Dionysius frowned, thought for only a moment, and said bluntly: "The war between Syracuse and Carthage is at a critical juncture. I have no troops to spare. Sue for peace! Once I pacify Sicily, I will settle this account for Locri."

The envoys had no choice but to return to Locri.

The Locrians were not fools. Without reinforcements, they had no chance of victory, so seeking peace was their only way out. In decades of conflict with Croton, periods of fighting and truces were common. Locri was accustomed to this and would not stubbornly fight a hopeless battle for the sake of honor.

Thus, the Daonian First Army Corps arrived with great enthusiasm, only to find that no battle took place. They were forced into the role of mediators.

Fortunately, the allied cities of southern Italy developed a favorable impression of the Daonian army, which appeared in the central south for the first time. The Caulonians, in particular, were astonished to find that during the negotiations, the Daonian soldiers camped outside Caulonia remained quietly within the camp, causing no disturbance to the populace. In this regard, they behaved even better than the Crotonians, Caulonia's allies for decades.

When Sipros, the Trina envoy who had accompanied the army to Caulonia, returned to Trina after the negotiations, he gave a detailed and comprehensive evaluation of the Daonian army to the Council.