Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 66: Return to the Rescue

The messenger continued relaying the Senate’s orders: “Lord Diomilas believes that the Messapian army attacking Manduria may be their last remaining force. Therefore, the Senate orders you, while ensuring the safety of Brundisium, to lead as many soldiers as possible back and join with reinforcements from Heraclea and Metapontum. March on Manduria and decisively defeat the Messapians! Secure the newly conquered territory once and for all!”

Archytas bowed his head in thought: Earlier, in the struggle for Manduria and Brundisium, Tarentum had suffered nearly five thousand casualties. The Messapian losses could not have been lower—the number of enemy corpses buried after the battle was telling enough. Although the Messapian League comprised seven or eight city-states, only Rudiae could truly be called a large city, and it might still field another ten thousand men. Their manpower must have reached its limit… But why weren’t they attacking Brundisium, wedged deep into Messapian territory, instead of striking Manduria, which was closer to Tarentum and easier to reinforce?

Then he reconsidered and silently cursed his own foolishness: Brundisium was garrisoned by eight thousand Tarentine citizen soldiers, while Manduria had only two thousand. Which city was easier to take was obvious.

He looked up at the messenger still awaiting his reply and asked, “How many troops have Metapontum and Heraclea sent?”

“Given their heavy losses last time, I hear the two cities have only dispatched three thousand men,” the messenger answered.

Archytas’s expression darkened slightly: He knew well the casualties his allies had suffered during their previous joint campaigns. In the end, Tarentum alone had reaped the rewards, while Heraclea and Metapontum received only some compensation. Yet hadn’t Daonia defeated its enemies and grown swiftly using the same methods?

At that thought, his guilt faded. Instead, his mind turned to the city-state alliance across the gulf—one that stirred mixed feelings in him. “Has the Senate… sent envoys to Daonia to request aid?”

The messenger hesitated, shook his head, and wore an odd expression.

Archytas quickly understood: Not only did Diomilas—one of this year’s newly elected magistrates—consistently dislike the Daonia Alliance, but others shared his sentiment. As a major state in southern Italy with three hundred years of history, asking for help from a newly formed alliance less than two years old was a matter of honor and dignity. What would their allies and the other city-states of Magna Graecia think? Moreover, unlike Heraclea and Metapontum, which were subordinate to Tarentum, Daonia stood as an equal ally in a mutual defense pact. In fact, its overall strength might now even surpass Tarentum’s. To request Daonia’s assistance, Tarentum would have to pay a price. So unless a crisis arose, Tarentum would never send envoys to Daonia.

Archytas pondered for a moment, then said decisively, “I will have Pebarisius lead two thousand soldiers to hold Brundisium. I’ll take six thousand men back. You’ll come with me, since I don’t have enough cavalry to escort you alone.”

The messenger breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed. He had been terrified by the Messapian light cavalry’s hit-and-run tactics; the cavalry squad escorting him had lost a dozen lives just to get him safely into Brundisium.

That afternoon, the freemen who had heard the news came rushing over, watching anxiously as the six thousand Tarentine citizen soldiers marched out of the city. Though Tarentum looked down on the upstart Daonia City-State League with its lack of historical depth, it had already begun emulating Daonia’s methods for handling conquered territories. After seizing the two towns, the Senate had immediately promised foreign residents and freemen in Tarentum that if they agreed to relocate to Brundisium and Manduria, they would receive land and become Tarentine citizens, and the two towns would become Tarentum’s dependencies. Thus, despite the risks, many freemen had brought their families and gladly moved. Now that war had broken out again and most of Brundisium’s defenders were leaving, how could they not be nervous?

Between Brundisium on the eastern coast of Apulia and Tarentum on the western coast lay an east-west mountain ridge. Beyond that, the terrain was flat. So Archytas’s army had two routes back to Tarentum: one was to go north around the ridge and then west straight to Tarentum; the other was to go directly west, passing Manduria and then skirting the ridge to reach Tarentum. Archytas naturally chose the former, because aside from needing to watch the only Messapian town in the north—Igrathia—the route was quite safe. Choosing the latter meant constantly guarding against sudden attacks from Messapian towns centered around Rudiae, hidden in the dense forests to the south.

Not long after leaving the city and rounding the ridge, scouts reported spotting a small band of Messapian cavalry lurking nearby.

Archytas did not pay much attention. Although Tarentum had taken Brundisium, Messapian cavalry still roamed the corridor between Tarentum and Brundisium, disrupting travel and supply transport. Tarentum had repeatedly sent soldiers to attack these horsemen, but they used their speed to flee early and only returned once the Tarentine troops withdrew empty-handed. Unable to deal with them effectively, Tarentum decided to wait until Brundisium was fully pacified before establishing new villages and strongpoints between the two cities to secure the area. In the meantime, Tarentum organized special units to maintain communication and transport between the cities. Heavy infantry paired with archers could effectively handle these swift cavalry—and Archytas did the same.

After rounding the ridge, the terrain toward Tarentum became flat and open. Archytas divided the marching column into five files, with the fewer light infantry in the center and heavy-armed citizen soldiers on the flanks. The entire column stretched about three miles. The distance between Tarentum and Brundisium was roughly a hundred miles. Archytas estimated that at the current pace of the new army, they could reach their destination by evening.

He controlled the marching speed, keeping a steady, unhurried pace.

But as time passed, more and more Messapian cavalry appeared, circling around the marching column and killing Tarentine scouts. Archytas was forced to withdraw his few remaining cavalry, leaving him unable to learn about the surrounding situation beyond his immediate sight.

As a commander, Archytas knew well that after the last war, there was no significant Messapian force near the north of the ridges between Brundisium and Tarentum. Yet this feeling of being blind made him uneasy. He immediately ordered the troops to speed up and reach Sigeion as quickly as possible.

Sigeion was a village north of Tarentum. Before the capture of Brundisium, because it bordered Messapian territory, it had been built into a small fortified outpost with solid earthen walls and multiple watchtowers to defend against Messapian raids.

The call of war horns rang out. Upon hearing the orders, the officers began urging the soldiers, who had been joking and laughing, to move faster.

Just then, loud war horns sounded from the front of the column.

The soldiers in the vanguard were stunned: Could that be our own army coming?

“That’s the attack signal!” some soldiers began to shout.

As the column stirred, Archytas’s orders came: Halt the advance! Immediately deploy the formation facing west, light infantry in front, heavy infantry behind!

The officers sprang into action, directing the soldiers to form ranks.

Riding under cavalry escort, Archytas galloped to the front of the column.

A hundred meters away, the scattered Messapian cavalry watched him like wolves. Through the gaps between enemy horsemen, he peered farther ahead. Doubt gnawed at him: If the Messapian main force was at Manduria, how many soldiers could they spare to block his return to Tarentum?

As he pondered, the Tarentine marching column began to slowly deploy westward. Officers and soldiers shouted to one another, searching for their positions, the noise rising into a deafening clamor.

In front of the formation, Archytas stood in silent confrontation with the nearby Messapian cavalry…

There they are! Archytas’s eyelids twitched. He blinked hard, then opened his eyes wider: At the horizon several hundred meters away, a row of small black dots appeared, gradually growing larger and stretching longer…

As the force drew closer, Archytas and his men could see more clearly: They too wore round shields, bronze helmets, and carried long spears. They too marched in dense ranks. But that alone wasn’t enough to identify them as Tarentine troops—Messapian soldiers were equipped the same way, thanks to the Athenians!

When they came even closer and the raised banners became visible, the adjutant cried out, “General, it’s the Igrathian army!”

Igrathia was the northernmost Messapian city-state, bordering the territory of the Peucetii. Whenever the Messapians and Peucetii clashed, Igrathia bore the brunt of it. As a border city, it had strong military capabilities and was also the closest to Brundisium. During Tarentum’s assault on Brundisium, the Igrathians had come to reinforce the Messapians, but Archytas had driven them back.

He had even set up watchtowers north of Brundisium to monitor Igrathia’s movements. Now that the Igrathian army had appeared here without any warning, it was clear the northern outposts had been destroyed.

But Archytas had no time to mourn. He stared intently at the enemy formation, his mathematician’s mind quickly estimating their numbers: fewer than three thousand.

Nearly three thousand men dared to block his way home?! Archytas felt no relief—only deeper suspicion.

Before he could think further, the previously quiet Messapian cavalry raised a war cry and charged. He wheeled his horse around and, with his cavalry, dashed back into the formation. The light infantry, already positioned at the front of the phalanx, advanced to meet them, ready to loose their arrows.