Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy Chapter 43: Conflicts Erupt in the Western Mediterranean

Sipros gave a thorough and detailed assessment of the Daonian army at the Trina Council: “...What struck me was that the Daonian citizen soldiers possess a strong sense of discipline and obedience to orders, unlike any allied army I have seen, including our own. It is said that the Daonian Alliance has enacted a specific Military Code to regulate soldier behavior, with strict rules covering military training, marching, encamping, and every other aspect. They even have military judges in the army to oversee enforcement. When soldiers violate the Military Code and face punishment, they show no obvious resistance or rebellion; instead, they feel ashamed...

From the Daonian citizen soldiers, I learned that they must train every five days during the agricultural off-season. That frequency alone would astonish us Trinians, yet they seem to enjoy training and never complain about neglecting their farmland because of it... As a result, they handle their shields, spears, bows, and javelins with great skill, maintain perfect formation on the march, and build camps with meticulous care and clear division of labor. Their efficiency is so high that in a very short time, they can construct a heavily fortified camp that amazed me...

Another striking difference between the Daonian army and other city-states is that their commanders and officers at all levels are not temporarily appointed after war mobilization but hold their positions continuously. Therefore, they are not only rich in combat experience but also familiar with every soldier under their command. This makes directing troops during marches and camp construction extremely smooth, with excellent coordination. Responsibilities between superior and subordinate are clearly defined, and there is little reluctance or self-will when carrying out orders...

What surprised me even more is that these soldiers are not afraid of battle; they crave it. This reminds me of the Spartans in mainland Greece. Although I have not yet seen them in combat, the fact that they defeated Croton with a smaller force is enough to prove the Daonian army’s fighting ability. In short, in my eyes, the Daonian army is like a meticulously crafted, well-oiled, terrifying war machine!...”

After hearing Sipros’s words, the Trina Council decided to give Daonia as much support as possible within the South Italy Alliance, provided it did not harm their own interests.

After several days of negotiations, a peace agreement was finally reached: Locri would compensate Caulonia, Trina, Scylletium, and Croton with a certain amount of gold and silver, and both sides would cease hostilities...

...

Just as peace was restored in southern Italy, a great battle erupted in early March in the Lucanian region of northwestern Daonia.

The Potentian army besieged and assaulted Grumentum for over ten days without success. Genanet of Pyxous arrived with his forces and fiercely attacked the rear of the Potentian army. On the city walls, Sicinag saw the reinforcements coming and promptly led his troops out in a sortie. Caught in a pincer attack, Potentia soon collapsed and fled. The Pyxousians and Grumentines pursued closely, and the Potentians abandoned their camp and fled in panic.

The Pyxousians and Grumentines entered the Potentian camp almost simultaneously. Seeing herds of cattle and sheep, piles of grain, numerous women captured by Potentia from other tribes along the way, and a considerable number of slaves, they lost all interest in pursuing the enemy. Both sides began looting the camp for goods and women, leading to conflict.

The Pyxousians claimed that since they had defeated the Potentian army, all spoils should belong to them. The Grumentines, however, argued that most of these goods had been plundered by Potentia from tribes outside the city that were subject to Grumentum, and therefore should be returned to Grumentum.

What started as arguments and minor clashes quickly turned into armed conflict. The Grumentines, who had once held a superior status within the Lucanian League, had recently suffered the deaths of many chieftains and were under the control of the Pyxousians. The Pyxousians’ contempt and orders made them feel humiliated and resentful. Moreover, the Pyxousian warriors under Sicinag had been throwing their weight around inside Grumentum. The pent-up hatred in their hearts burst forth when provoked. Grumentines gathered en masse and frantically attacked the Pyxousians in the camp. Both sides engaged in bloody fighting, and the situation spiraled completely out of control.

Sicinag could no longer stop it. Just as he was about to make the harsh decision to annihilate these fickle Grumentines, the Potentian leader Pollet led a regrouped portion of his troops back to strike again. The Pyxousians, already fighting the Grumentines inside the camp, were caught between two enemies and suffered a disastrous defeat. Sicinag and his son fled with the remnants, not daring to return to Grumentum. They escaped into the mountains and, after many twists and turns, finally made it back to Pyxous.

In the end, Potentia occupied Grumentum.

Meanwhile, after two months of siege and hard fighting, Tarentum finally captured the small town of Brundisium, located to its east on the Adriatic Sea. This was a major breakthrough in the expansion of Tarentum’s territory since its founding.

The people praised the commanding generals Diomilas and Archytas for their efforts. Yet Archytas could not bring himself to celebrate. This attack on the Messapians had received the full support of the city-state. Although it achieved the initial plan discussed by the Council—opening a land route from Tarentum to the Adriatic Sea and cutting off the Messapians from the north, sealing them off on the peninsula—the cost was high. Tarentum’s citizen soldiers had suffered up to 4,000 casualties.

The ferocity of the Messapians was well known in southern Italy. During the great Greek colonization period centuries ago, many Greek city-states had been established in southern Italy, but on this “heel” peninsula, only Tarentum had ever taken root. While other colonial city-states were striking at and assimilating nearby natives, expanding their territories, the Tarentines, blessed with a favorable location, lamented their misfortune. Their eastern neighbors, the Messapians, were not only fierce and numerous but also not completely barbaric natives. According to their own claims, they were Illyrians from the northern Adriatic, with cultural traditions similar to the Greeks (though the Greeks never recognized them and still considered them barbarians). For centuries, these factors had prevented Tarentum from advancing inland. Particularly decades ago, when Tarentum supported its mother city Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, it incurred Athens’ hostility. Athens then backed the Messapians to oppose Tarentum, leading to increased raids by the Messapians against Tarentum, causing great suffering among the people.

If not for the stimulus of Daonia’s rapid rise, the Tarentine Senate might never have dared to attack the Messapians. But Archytas knew that although the city-state had achieved a temporary victory, the Messapians would not take it lying down. The war with them might drag on for a long time.

The wailing of the wounded outside the city mingled with the triumphant cawing of crows feeding on corpses, sending chills through one’s heart...

Standing on the low walls of Brundisium, Archytas gazed blankly at the western horizon, stained a bloody red by the setting sun. His heart was filled with worry for the future...

In April, Dionysius of Syracuse’s great army continued westward. Cities like Eryx and Halicyae surrendered without resistance, while Selinusta, the only city that remained loyal to Carthage, came under siege.

By mid-month, Dionysius’s forces reached the westernmost tip of Sicily, facing the island city in the gulf—Motya, Carthage’s important base on Sicily.

Motya destroyed the causeway connecting it to the mainland, preparing to defend from the sea.

Dionysius ordered his troops to rebuild the causeway. Meanwhile, he led his army on campaigns against nearby areas. However, Selinusta repelled the Syracusan assault, forcing Syracuse to continue its siege.

In May, the causeway was completed, and Dionysius led his army back to prepare the assault on Motya.

By then, Carthage was also preparing to send troops to relieve this imperiled sea city. They first tried the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao, sending warships to Syracuse. The ships entered the Great Harbor and damaged the vessels there, attempting to lure Dionysius back. But Dionysius remained unmoved.

The Carthaginian general Himilco could only lead his main force directly to relieve Motya. A large number of Carthaginian warships rounded Cape Palermo and charged into the gulf, intent on destroying the Syracusan ships beached on the shore.

Dionysius had been waiting for this moment. He had placed dozens of his new weapon—the catapult—along the beach of this ring-shaped peninsula. At his command, volleys of bowl-sized round stones shot forth, crashing into the Carthaginian ships in the gulf...

...

Davos carefully examined the silver coin in his hand. It weighed four grams and was nearly perfectly round. On one side was a bust of Hades with a thick beard and flowing hair, with the inscription “Daonian Alliance” below. On the other side was a lush white poplar tree (the sacred tree of the Lord of the Underworld), with the inscription “Third Year of the 95th Olympian Games” below. The images on both sides were centered, finely detailed, with clear relief and distinct letters.

Davos tossed the coin in the air, caught it, and hefted it in his hand before asking, “How much silver?”

Tritodemos stepped forward and said, “As per your proposal and the Senate’s passage of the Coinage Act, we have made each silver drachma with a purity of over 95%, similar to the purity of Athens’ ‘owl’ coins (the famous Laurion silver coins throughout Greece). But—” Tritodemos added with concern, “we don’t have Athens’ silver mines. The treasury’s income comes mainly from trade and taxes. Issuing such high-purity silver coins will incur considerable losses.”

Davos nodded and explained patiently, “We will indeed suffer some losses, but I explained it clearly at the Senate meeting. Now Daonia’s monthly treasury revenue is nearly 50 talents. According to Mariji’s analysis, once we become more closely connected with the other allies in the South Italy Alliance, this figure will increase... So we can afford this loss. Moreover, every city and market in our alliance has a market office that can fairly accurately measure the purity of the silver coins used in trade. With banks handling exchanges and the additional collection of handling fees, we can partly offset the losses caused by minting...”