Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 62: The Belonging of Elea

Davos’s speech won thunderous applause. The players, stirred to enthusiasm, joined the spectators outside the field in singing the Hymn to Hades. Afterward, the teams quickly left, and the rugby tournament officially began.

According to the new tournament rules, the eight teams were divided into Groups A and B. Last year’s champion, Thurii, and runner-up, Amendolara, were seeded and placed in separate groups. The remaining teams drew lots to determine their allocation.

In the end, Group A consisted of Thurii, Nerulum, Crimissa, and Grumentum; Group B consisted of Amendolara, Laüs, Castron, and Asperustum.

Each group played a single round-robin. A win earned one point, a loss zero points, with no draws. Teams with equal points were ranked by head-to-head results. The top two from each group advanced to the knockout stage to eventually decide the champion.

To secure an opening victory, Davos specially selected Thurii vs. Nerulum—a closely matched game—as the opening match to attract the crowd’s attention.

When the Thurii and Nerulum teams re-entered the field, the entire venue erupted in cheers. Most of the spectators were Thurii citizens, naturally cheering for their local team, while the Lucanians mostly rooted for Nerulum. Amid the shouts, the names Tegtilos and Lizaru were mentioned most often, because one was a powerful, strong runner, and the other a nimble, fast runner. Both were famous scorers for their respective teams.

In the stands, Bacule watched with burning enthusiasm, shouting loudly while punching the air and stomping his feet—completely lacking the dignified composure of a powerful senator. If he hadn’t just become the Chief Magistrate of Grumentum and been too busy with affairs to train with the team, he would never have been just a spectator on the sidelines.

Beside him, Asiastes read his thoughts and teased, “Now that you’re the Chief Magistrate of Grumentum, you should support Grumentum’s team. Nerulum is Grumentum’s main opponent for advancing to the knockout stage. You should hope they lose.”

Bacule glared at him, then actually fell into a state of genuine conflict.

The referee blew the flute, and the match officially began.

As a strong athletic power in Magna Graecia, the Crotonians had previously dismissed Daonia’s rugby matches despite their renown. Now, as the game progressed, these invited Crotonian dignitaries began to be drawn in by the fierce tackles and intense clashes. Even Ascamas, the Crotonian general and naval commander who had been making snide remarks all along, fell silent. The tight organization, reasonable rules, the era’s unique ball sport, and the thrilling athletic spectacle impressed this general, who had represented Croton multiple times in the four great games when young. He exclaimed loudly, “I never imagined rugby could be such a sport. It’s far more interesting than the Spartans’ stone ball tossing game they play among themselves. Very entertaining. It suits us Crotonians perfectly!”

“Why?” someone nearby asked.

“Look, there are many players on the field. The scene may seem chaotic, but it’s basically two types of actions: attack and blocking,” Ascamas analyzed, pointing at the field. “To do that, players need great strength, explosive speed, and must not fear collisions. These are exactly what we Crotonian athletes excel at!”

Ascamas’s proud words made the surrounding Crotonians nod in agreement. Croton’s athletes had long dominated wrestling and boxing, accumulating rich experience in training for strength and explosive power.

“When we return, we should convince the Assembly to let Crotonians start practicing rugby too. Next year, we’ll participate in this tournament and defeat these Daonian teams!” Ascamas looked around at the cheering Daonian spectators, a hint of anger in his eyes.

Just then, Tegtilos of Thurii carried the ball over the line for a try, and the whole venue roared with cheer, making Ascamas even more eager.

“Sir Ascamas is right! Next year, we’ll join too and beat the Daonians!” Several Crotonians echoed with shared hostility. Being defeated by the Daonians galled these proud Crotonians, and like Ascamas, they wanted to win back dignity on the field to prove Croton’s strength.

Lysias listened to his companions’ talk and frowned. His mind was not completely absorbed by the match; he was pondering deeper issues. All of Greece had four traditional games and the Panathenaea, famous throughout the Mediterranean. Athletes from Magna Graecia eagerly participated, far more actively than the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor, and they performed excellently at every Olympian Games. However, Magna Graecia itself did not have an influential games. The sport-loving Crotonians had once tried to organize a games that even just included the city-states of Magna Graecia, but it failed. On one hand, Croton’s influence was insufficient; the people of Magna Graecia did not recognize it. On the other hand, many city-states had long-term conflicts of interest and could not reach a consensus. As a result, this became a regret for the Crotonians!

Now, although the Daonia rugby tournament was only a single competition, it included so many cities of Magna Graecia, and seemed to be attracting more city-states to join... Lysias vaguely saw the shadow of a regional games.

Was this a coincidence? Or was it deliberate on the part of the Daonians? Lysias looked at the figure of Davos in the front row. Through contact over these past two days, this seemingly gentle young magistrate gave him an inscrutable feeling. In just a few months, Daonia had not only stabilized the newly occupied Asperustum and Crimissa, but had recently captured a major city in Lucania—Grumentum.

Meanwhile, Croton’s Assembly was still embroiled in endless debates over issues such as whether the original inhabitants of newly added Asperustum should receive full citizenship, and the redistribution of the war-damaged lands of the Croton Plain.

Initially, Lysias had thought to endure this difficult period and let Croton rise again. But with increasing contact with Daonia, every time he compared the rapidly developing Daonia with the stagnant Croton, Lysias almost lost confidence: at this rate, Croton would be left far behind by Daonia!

But he could only fret and do nothing. Croton’s democratic system had always been like this. He had studied why Daonia’s governance was so efficient, but those methods were simply impossible to implement in Croton. Sometimes he thought: joining the South Italy Alliance might have been the best decision Croton ever made.

Hearing Ascamas and the others, Lysias laughed inwardly at their naivety. Even if Croton really sent a team next year and beat Daonia, so what? Win or lose, Daonia would be the big winner!

...

On the third day, while the rugby tournament was still in full swing, the Elean envoy Canios was received by Davos.

The young magistrate received him very warmly. Having gained a deeper understanding of the Daonia Alliance over the past two days, Canios shed his initial restraint and reserve, and they had a friendly conversation.

Davos listened attentively as Canios spoke of Elea’s current plight. He also learned from Canios about the situation in Campania and the Samnites... The conversation was pleasant, and in the end, a treaty of alliance was naturally concluded: Elea joined the Daonia Alliance.

After signing the alliance agreement, the tense string deep inside Canios finally relaxed, because Davos solemnly promised: if any force dared to invade Elea, Daonia would immediately send troops to aid its Elean ally and repel the enemy!

Davos also hinted that when Daonia took action in Lucania in the future, he hoped Elea would actively cooperate.

Canios agreed readily. He happily realized that he had finally seen hope for ending the nightmare that had plagued Elea for decades. It was truly reassuring to lean on a powerful force!

As Canios walked out of the reception room, his mood remained joyful. Then he saw a person approaching, smiling and waving at him.

Why is Sipros here? Canios returned the greeting with a question in his mind, puzzled.

“Sir, now that we’ve formed an alliance with Elea, do we still need to negotiate with the envoys from Pyxous, Potentia, and Garagusus?” Aristocrates asked curiously.

“What’s your view?” Davos watched Canios’s departing back, feeling quite relaxed. Elea joining the alliance made him feel one step closer to the goal of unifying Lucania.

“I think... we should take advantage of the fact that Pyxous and Potentia have been weakened and don’t yet know that Elea has joined the alliance. Launch a sudden attack, and we can easily take down either Pyxous or Potentia!” Having followed Davos for so long, Aristocrates had learned to achieve maximum gains with minimal casualties.

But Davos gently shook his head, not agreeing: “That surprise attack tactic of yours is certainly good. But implementing it now is not appropriate.”

“Why, sir?” Aristocrates asked impatiently, unconvinced.

“Yesterday, when Bacule and Asiastes reported on the situation in Grumentum, you were there listening. The situation in Grumentum is not very optimistic. There are frequent conflicts between tribes, and they’ve nearly sparked small battles several times... Grumentum is not like Nerulum after all. It lies in the center of Lucania, with many tribes, complex origins, and enemies all around. To stabilize Grumentum and its surrounding areas, Bacule and his men will need at least a year or two before these Lucanians truly accept us from their hearts and accept our governance... If we rashly attack other regions now and something unexpected happens, the unrest in Grumentum could easily repeat the tragedy of Thurii...” Davos said calmly.