Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 69: Dionia Keeps Its Promise

Davos leaned back in his chair, fell silent, and grief instantly enveloped him... Since arriving in this era, Davos had never stopped fighting; he had long grown accustomed to life and death. Even when a fellow mercenary who had shared hardships with him fell before his eyes, it rarely stirred a ripple in his heart. But upon learning this news today, he lost his composure...

In truth, his time with Archytas had not been long, yet the two had taken an instant liking to each other back then. This gentle, refined Tarentine noble, seven or eight years his senior, was like a kind elder brother who had helped Davos on numerous occasions. When Davos was still unknown, Archytas, as a Tarentine senator and a general on campaign, had assisted him in repelling the Lucanians without complaint. After Davos seized Amendolara, Archytas not only bore no grudge over Davos’s deception but actively pushed Tarentum to ally with Amendolara, while also advising Davos not to seize power through violence. The Daonia Alliance’s later rapid growth owed much to his counsel. And although relations between Tarentum and Daonia had since cooled, Archytas still worked earnestly to restore friendship between the two states, ensuring that even when Croton blockaded Thurii’s port, grain could still be purchased from Tarentum...

Lost in recollection, Davos’s eyes grew moist. He suddenly drew a deep breath, his expression solemn, and said loudly to Polidorus: “Daonia is an ally of Tarentum. Helping an ally repel an invader is Daonia’s duty. I will immediately request the convening of the Senate! I firmly believe that every senator of the Daonia Senate will unhesitatingly agree to send troops to rescue our friendly allied state!”

Polidorus’s heart settled: Eumachus was right. The relationship between Archytas and Davos was extraordinary. Rumor had it that the Daonia Senate was a senate under Davos’s sole control. Having obtained his consent in advance, this plea for aid was now without issue!

...

When Polidorus presented Tarentum’s request to the senators in the Great Council Chamber, with Davos’s backing, almost no one opposed it.

Most senators from Amendolara and Thurii still remembered the help Tarentum had given them in their hardest times. Kynogoratas and others stated: “Keeping promises has always been a principle that Daonians uphold. Daonia has become a powerful alliance in Magna Graecia. We should bravely take on the responsibility of defending the Greek city-states of southern Italy and demonstrate our sincerity to the surrounding states!”

These words struck a chord with everyone. The Senate passed the resolution “dispatch reinforcements to rescue Tarentum” unanimously, but a dispute arose over the number of troops.

Senators led by Cornelius and Bourkos argued that the harvest season of September was approaching. If too many able-bodied men were pulled away to fight, even with slaves helping, the harvesting of the fields would suffer greatly. They suggested sending at most one Army Corps.

A minority of Thurii senators, led by Polyxides, believed that the Daonia Alliance had seen too many wars in the past two years. The populace was weary and in urgent need of rest. Besides, Tarentum had the help of Metapontum and Heraclea, and its military strength had not been greatly weakened. Daonia only needed to send three or four thousand men to show its goodwill; that would be sufficient.

However, military senators like Antonios and Capus objected. They argued that the combined power of the Messapians and Peucetii was formidable. If Daonia sent too few reinforcements, it would not help the Tarentines end the war quickly. A prolonged conflict would instead delay the return of Daonia’s troops and arouse public discontent. Moreover, sending a larger force would allow Daonia to hold the initiative in the war, preventing the Tarentines from making reckless arrangements that would lead to unnecessary sacrifices...

They recommended sending two Army Corps to Tarentum.

The military senators’ arguments persuaded most of the senators, but the sheer number of 14,000 men for two Army Corps still made many hesitant. In the end, they left the decision to Davos.

Davos naturally agreed with Antonios and the others. He said: “Since we have already agreed to send reinforcements, we should demonstrate Daonia’s sincerity and resolve as Tarentum’s ally to the greatest extent. With two Army Corps, plus the assistance of Tarentum and its allied states, we should be able to drive back the enemy quickly, so that our citizens can return early to tend their farms...”

As Davos spoke, he unconsciously placed the Daonian army in the main role, forgetting that on Tarentine soil he was merely a guest force. Yet none of the senators found this odd; they instead took it as a matter of course.

This time, Mesis had no worries about supplies. When Polidorus learned that Daonia was actually sending a massive force of 14,000 men, he was overjoyed and repeatedly assured Davos: “The grain and all necessary supplies for the Daonian reinforcements will, of course, be provided by Tarentum!”

Meanwhile, Bourkos’s Agricultural Affairs Department would have to work diligently to ensure that the farms of each departing soldier received adequate care during their owner’s absence.

Grumentum, Crimissa, and Asperustum had only recently submitted and were not suitable for deployment. Nerulum, as Daonia’s most secure rear base in Lucania, also bore the responsibility of deploying troops to stabilize Grumentum at any time; barring special circumstances, its citizens would not be reassigned for a distant campaign to Tarentum. Therefore, Davos selected the citizens to be deployed from Thurii and Amendolara, the two closely situated cities—that is, the garrisons of the First and Second Army Corps. This also saved time and effort for Bourkos’s farmland supervision.

At the same time, the Senate began recalling soldiers from the First and Second Army Corps who were about to travel to Corinth for the Isthmian Games.

The Isthmian Games were one of the four great Panhellenic festivals, held every two years in the summer-autumn after the Olympian Games, and were a celebration in honor of the sea god Poseidon.

Davos had not known much about them at first. It was only after the Hades Festival, when Croton’s chief general Lysias took his leave and remarked how impressive Daonia’s rugby tournament was, casually mentioning that Croton was about to send competitors to the Isthmian Games, that Davos took an interest.

Now, not only had the mercenary army Davos led taken root in Magna Graecia, but the Daonia Alliance he had established had also become one of the most powerful alliances in the region—comparable to the once mighty Sybaris a century ago. Yet Daonia’s deeds were still known to some in Sicily, but from Sicily eastward to the Greek mainland, it was virtually unheard of, and even less so among the Ionian islands of the Aegean, not to mention the Greek states of Asia Minor.

With Daonia’s current strength, it had passed the stage of lying low. It needed to strengthen ties with the Greek city-states of the eastern Mediterranean—both to boost trade and to attract freemen, which would be greatly beneficial. Thus, when Davos proposed in the Senate to “organize athletes to participate in the Isthmian Games,” the senators responded enthusiastically.

The Greek city-states of the western Mediterranean were no less eager to take part in the four great Panhellenic festivals than the people of mainland Greece, and far more active than the states of Asia Minor. The main reasons were: first, the venues of the four festivals were either in the Peloponnese or near the Gulf of Corinth, geographically closer to Magna Graecia and Sicily, while far from Asia Minor; second, these western colonial city-states enjoyed favorable locations, fertile land, and abundant mineral resources, making most of them quite wealthy—far richer than their mother cities on the mainland. Having no other opportunity to show off, these “city-state nouveau riche” of the western Mediterranean used the festivals as a glittering stage to flaunt their wealth: donating large amounts of gold and silver to the festival’s temple treasuries, hosting grand banquets for athletes from all over... The people of mainland Greece, simple in their ways, were stunned yet also scornful, mocking the western Greeks as “poor wretches who have nothing but gold and silver.”

But the western Greeks did not merely flaunt their wealth at the festivals; they also achieved outstanding results. Croton was famously a powerhouse for champions at all major festivals, followed by Syracuse. Tarentum, Locri, and Acragas also had athletes who won many titles. Sybaris, the former Thurii, and Neapolis had all achieved excellent results. They were keen to show their mother cities in Greece through the festivals that although they were colonists or descendants of colonists, their accomplishments far surpassed those of their mother cities’ citizens.

Davos’s proposal was merely carrying on the glorious tradition of the Greeks of Magna Graecia.

After the announcement of participation in the festivals was made in the various cities, Daonian citizens enthusiastically signed up. The alliance had to hold a selection competition, and ultimately ten people qualified to go to Corinth. They included: Teginos competing in wrestling, Matonis competing in the javelin, Amyntas signing up for the armored foot race, Sobecus in the chariot race... Now they all had to return to the First and Second Army Corps to prepare for the expedition to Tarentum.

Although the Daonia Alliance had ceased hostilities only a few months earlier and the enemy they were about to face was formidable, that did not dampen the citizens’ eagerness for the campaign. Besides the fact that war allowed them to accumulate merits and gain citizenship or land, the establishment of the Hall of Heroes and the Hall of Worthies within the Temple of Hades had greatly spurred their pursuit of honor.

While the citizens of Thurii and Amendolara were actively preparing for the expedition to Tarentum, in the magistrate’s residence, Davos, Military Affairs Officer Philistos, and the two legion commanders Capus and Drakos listened intently as the Tarentine envoy Polidorus detailed the situation of the two major powers in Apulia—the Messapians and the Peucetii: “I believe you gentlemen have all heard a tale that has been passed down for a long time...”