Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 65: The Cinadon Incident and the Mesapian Counterattack

Motya was small in area, but as Carthage's most important stronghold in Sicily, it was densely populated. To provide housing for everyone, the residents built their homes tall and narrow, often reaching six or seven stories, like so many pointed towers. When the Syracusan soldiers broke into the city, they were astonished to find that the inhabitants had no intention of surrendering. Instead, they fiercely defended every street and every house. When the soldiers tried to break through the street barricades, the Motyans hurled stones, javelins, and even boiling water and hot oil from the upper floors of their homes, inflicting heavy casualties on the Syracusans.

Dionysius was forced to halt the assault. He summoned numerous engineers and spent time constructing siege towers as tall as the Motyan houses—six stories high, mounted on wheels, and enormous in size. Once everything was ready, the Syracusans launched another attack. Ten siege towers were pushed by a large labor force through the widened breaches in the city wall and along the roads from the east, west, south, and north, slowly advancing into Motya. They drew close to the houses, lowered bridges from the top to connect with the roofs, and Syracusan soldiers climbed wooden ladders inside the towers to reach the exits, attempting to force their way into the buildings. The Motyans in turn hurled burning wood and pitch at the towers and fought desperately to prevent the enemy from entering.

Thus began one of the most peculiar sights of the Siege of Motya: both sides fighting in midair. Severed limbs and blood rained down from above. Soldiers and civilians, their bodies ablaze, fell from heights of more than ten meters, their screams unending. The ground was littered with corpses...

Due to the desperate resistance of the Motyans, Syracuse's progress was minimal. The battle became deadlocked...

...

In Sparta, King Agesilaus and the elders now had little attention to spare for the war in Asia Minor, because a conspiracy that threatened their rule had been exposed.

Kynadon, formerly a Spartan citizen, had been stripped of his privileges and demoted to an inferior when he could no longer afford the contributions for the common meals. Initially, he acted out of jealousy and a desire for revenge against the Spartan nobility. But through long observation and continuous contact with the other subjugated classes within Spartan territory, he gradually came to realize how terrible the Spartan system's indiscriminate massacre and oppression of the Helots truly was, and how unjust it was toward the inferiors and the Perioeci, who also contributed sweat and blood to the city. So he decided to overthrow the rule of the Spartan nobles.

During this period, with the frequent outbreaks of war, Spartan citizens, Perioeci, and even Helots were constantly levied for battle. The land at home gradually became neglected due to a lack of labor, while the city's tax burden increased. This caused discontent among all classes toward Sparta to rise sharply. Therefore, as Kynadon used every opportunity to secretly contact and spread his message, large numbers of people within Spartan territory—including disappointed elements among the Spartan citizens themselves—were inspired by his ideas and joined his organization.

As time passed, the rebel organization grew in number. When they were already preparing to take some action, a participant, out of fear, betrayed them to the Council of Elders.

The king, the elders, and the ephors were greatly alarmed when they received the news. Due to the urgency of the situation, they hastily convened an informal meeting and decided to send Kynadon to lead a group of young men to a town in the countryside to carry out a "Cleansing Operation." The so-called "Cleansing Operation" was a publicly sanctioned official action that the Spartan government conducted annually to cull a portion of the Helots, fearing that their population would grow too large and threaten Spartan rule. It not only kept the Helots constantly mindful of Sparta's terror but also whetted the bloodlust of young Spartan citizens.

Kynadon received the order without suspicion and was actually pleased—not because he was excited by the right to kill any Helot he encountered at will, but because he saw this freedom to roam outside as a perfect opportunity to contact his organization and incite a rebellion.

However, he thought too simplistically and lacked caution. Not long after leaving the city, he was secretly arrested by Spartan warriors who had been lying in wait, and he was taken back to prison. The Spartans, who had long exploited and oppressed the Helots, were experienced in torture and interrogation. After severe torture and brutal suffering, Kynadon finally revealed some of the important leaders of the organization.

While the ephors conducted a city-wide manhunt for the rebels, they also paraded the battered and wounded Kynadon around the city, announcing to the watching populace: "Kynadon is a despicable traitor who plotted to incite the Helots, start an uprising, overthrow Spartan rule, seize Spartan wealth, and make himself king."

Kynadon never had a chance to defend himself. The moment he opened his mouth, Spartan warriors lashed his body with whips and struck his mouth with wooden clubs studded with iron spikes. Covered in blood, reeling under the angry and scornful gazes of the people, he did not even complete the circuit before he collapsed, convulsed, and died.

The Spartan government successfully eliminated Kynadon physically, ruined his reputation, and made the uninformed Spartan populace hate the rebels. But too many people were involved in the conspiracy for the matter to end there. The two kings, the elders, and the ephors spent the following period busy stabilizing the domestic situation.

The Daonia rugby ball tournament lasted more than ten days. The exciting matches and fierce competition drove not only the Daonian citizens and their allied guests wild with excitement, but also attracted foreign merchants who had come to Thurii for trade. By the time of the semifinals, the arena was not only packed to capacity, but countless people outside were shouting to be let in to watch.

Chief Magistrate Kynogoratas urgently increased the number of patrols to strengthen order at the venue and prevent accidents.

The final match was still between the two strong teams, Thurii and Amendolara.

From the whistle to the end, the spectators stood and cheered for both sides...

In the end, Amendolara won by a narrow margin, avenging last year's defeat.

Just as the disappointed audience was preparing to leave, the tournament host loudly announced: "Next, a demonstration match of football will be held to thank the people for their full support!"

Football, as the name suggests, is a ball kicked with the feet. But how can a game be played by kicking a ball with the feet? Many spectators who had never seen this sport sat back down with curiosity and doubt.

The arena staff brought in goalposts and re-marked the lines with lime powder.

Just as the spectators were whispering with friends who knew more, both teams came onto the field, and the referee stood in the center holding a truly round ball.

A whistle blew. The match began.

The spectators were astonished to discover that this round ball could bounce on the ground, and the players used their feet and various parts of their bodies to touch the ball, but they were not allowed to use their hands—exactly the opposite of rugby.

When they saw the players control the ball with their feet, perform all kinds of amazing moves, and dribble past opponents to break through, the spectators stared wide-eyed in amazement. And when the players ran like the wind with the ball and scored with powerful kicks, the crowd could not help cheering in unison.

As the spectators became truly immersed in the match, observant people realized: Daonia had invented another ball game no less impressive than rugby, and it was bound to become popular throughout the Daonia Alliance and Magna Graecia!

After the match ended, the host announced: "Next year, on Founding Day, a football tournament will be held in Daonia to celebrate!"

The spectators left the arena, still wanting more. In the following days, their conversations would revolve around the rugby tournament and the upcoming football tournament next year, sparking endless arguments. Meanwhile, the merchants, pondering the business opportunities brought by this grand event, carried these novel topics to other ports and cities. The fame of the Daonia ball game tournaments was slowly spreading its influence across Magna Graecia...

Just as the rugby tournament ended, the senators in the Senate Hall looked solemn. Originally, they had only been discussing whether to launch a war against the Bruttii, but then a messenger arrived from Tarentum...

Earlier, Tarentum had mustered a large force and captured Manduria, a fortified town that the Messapians had specially constructed for attacking Tarentum. Then, after several months and at great cost, they obtained the important Messapian port city of Brundisium, suddenly doubling Tarentum's territory.

While they were delighted, the Tarentines were also cautious. Although the Messapians had been severely wounded, they would not take this lying down. Centuries of conflict with the Messapians had taught the Tarentines the nature of that tribe well. So Tarentum dispatched additional troops to the newly conquered cities and urgently repaired the fortifications.

Several months passed, and the region of Apulia (the area of Italy's "heel") remained calm.

Based on their estimate of the Messapians' current strength and the geographical location and importance of Brundisium and Manduria, the Tarentine Senate had carefully planned ahead. They placed the young Archytas with more soldiers to guard Brundisium, which was farther from Tarentum and more important, while they deployed fewer troops to Manduria, only forty stades away, because reinforcements from both Tarentum and Brundisium could arrive at any time. They believed the Messapians did not have the strength to launch a major attack on both towns simultaneously.

On the morning of the fifth day after the Festival of Hades began, Archytas, who was inspecting construction work at the port of Brundisium, received a messenger sent by the Tarentine Senate.

"Manduria is under attack by the Messapians? How many?!" Archytas was somewhat surprised.

"According to our scout cavalry, the enemy are numerous—no fewer than ten thousand. Their assault is extremely fierce! The Senate has already sent two thousand men to Manduria and temporarily checked the enemy's offensive..."