Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 70: Histories of the Three Tribes

Polydorus narrated unhurriedly: “…In the Archaic period, Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, was arrogant and disrespectful to the supreme god Zeus. One day he conceived an evil plan to mock Zeus. He killed a servant, cooked his flesh into a stew, and invited Zeus to a feast. Zeus saw through his trick, struck down the palace with lightning, turned Lycaon into a wolf, and destroyed his kingdom…”

“I know that legend. The king of Arcadia blasphemed against the chief god, and it was only natural that he and his kingdom were punished by Zeus. But what does this have to do with the Messapians?” Philistos interrupted curiously.

Polydorus glanced at Davos and, seeing he also looked interested, smiled and said, “Yes, every Greek knows the story of Lycaon, but his story didn’t end there… Lycaon had three sons. When the kingdom was destroyed, they each took their own people and slaves, sailed across the Adriatic Sea, and fled to settle in southern Italy.”

Polydorus swept his gaze over the group and said solemnly, “Those three sons were named Daunius, Peucetius, and Messapius.”

“Oh.” Philistos was somewhat surprised.

“After several hundred years, the peoples led by these three sons grew and expanded, and they named their tribes after the first three leaders to distinguish themselves… This story has been passed down among the Messapians, and because Tarentum has been at war with them for a long time, we came to know it.”

After Polydorus finished, Capus asked worriedly, “There’s also the Daunians?! These three races were originally the same people—when we fight the Messapian-Peucetian coalition, will the Daunians suddenly join in too?!”

Polydorus quickly explained, “Although they were once the same race, after centuries of development, the Messapians, Peucetii, and Daunians have each become large tribes with dozens of clans and over a hundred thousand people. They each have their own fixed territories. Not only are their political systems different, but they also have conflicting interests, and some have even become mortal enemies. The Daunians live north of the Peucetii. They are said to possess the great river plain with fertile land and four or five large towns. The Peucetii are sandwiched between the Daunians and the Messapians. They have neither fertile land nor good harbor cities and trade routes like the Messapians, so their development has been the most difficult. For this reason, they have long fought with the Daunians over the land on both sides of the Ofanto River. Thus, the two tribes are mortal enemies and could never unite. To the south, the Peucetii also have occasional conflicts with the Messapians, but it is only because of Tarentum’s presence that their battles have not been so fierce…”

Davos leaned forward, scrutinizing the rough map Polydorus had sketched for him earlier, showing Tarentum and the surrounding powers, while listening to his account. Suddenly, he asked, “What are the differences in the political systems of the Daunians, Peucetii, and Messapians?”

Polydorus hadn’t expected Davos to ask that. Frowning, he thought carefully for a long while before saying, “Well… now the political systems of the Messapian city-states are somewhat similar to those of our Greek city-states, but more than ten years ago they were still a unified kingdom. King Atas once warmly entertained the Athenians who wanted to attack Syracuse and even sent a considerable number of warriors to join them…” As he spoke, Polydorus sneered coldly. “The Messapian territory is surrounded by Greek city-states, and there has been frequent trade. Thus, the Messapians have long been influenced by Greek democratic thought. For a long time, the nobles, tribes, and towns had been clamoring to limit the king’s power. Unfortunately, Atas was a fool and also had close dealings with the Athenians. How could he know the cunning of those Athenians? A few years after the Athenian army was destroyed at Syracuse, the Messapian nobles staged a revolt, overthrew Atas’s rule, and he lost his life… Then the Messapian towns became independent one after another. Now they are basically ruled by aristocrats, who annually elect a magistrate to govern the city together with a council of nobles. These Messapian city-states, with Udie at their head, have formed the Messapian City-State League. There is little internal strife, and they are quite united—”

When Polydorus said this, his tone actually became somewhat low, making Davos realize that this newly formed Messapian League seemed to give the Tarentines even more headaches.

“As for the Peucetii and the Daunians, they are still ruled by kings…” Polydorus quickly turned the topic to the other two tribes. “The only difference is that the Peucetian king has more power, while the Daunian king… is said to be restrained by the various city lords…”

Davos listened thoughtfully and then asked, “Since the Messapians and Peucetii have always had conflicts, how could they form an alliance?”

Polydorus smiled bitterly. “You’ve really stumped me with that one… But according to the analysis of our Senate, the reason the Messapians were willing to ally with the Peucetii is probably because they were terrified by Tarentum’s attacks!”

There was a hint of pride in Polydorus’s expression. Davos nodded. He looked at the map again and thought to himself: Earlier, when Tarentum attacked the Messapians, I heard that Tarentum’s casualties were actually greater, but they did capture Brundisium and Manduria. Once they consolidate their newly occupied territory, they can cut off the Messapians’ connection to the north. And since Tarentum’s navy is among the strongest in Magna Graecia, they can surround the Messapians and slowly wear them down. When Tarentines die in battle, they can be replaced by freemen, but every Messapian lost is one less, and they will only grow weaker. That was probably the original plan of Tarentum’s senators.

“As for the Peucetii, perhaps they would rather have the Messapians, who share the same bloodline, as neighbors than foreigners! Besides, after allying with the Messapians, the Peucetii can focus all their efforts on dealing with the Daunians…”

That was only Polydorus’s guess. Davos felt there must be other reasons; otherwise, given the Peucetii’s own difficult situation, why would they take the risk of offending a powerful state in Magna Graecia?

“When the Peucetii sent out a large army for battle, weren’t they afraid that the Daunians would take the opportunity to attack?” Capus asked.

“I heard that last year the Peucetii attacked the Daunians, were defeated, and even lost the land they had occupied on the south bank of the Ofanto River. In the end, the Peucetii signed a truce with the Daunians.”

“Can a mere truce guarantee that the Daunians won’t strike when they’re vulnerable?”

Polydorus shrugged, irritated. “Who knows what’s going on in the stupid minds of these natives? The point is, the Peucetii are already on our land!”

Drakos yawned, showing no interest in what Polydorus was saying, but he didn’t dare interrupt because he saw Davos listening attentively.

At that moment, seeing Polydorus stop speaking, he couldn’t wait to ask, “What are the characteristics of the Messapian and Peucetian armies?”

On this subject, Polydorus’s emotions became evident again. “The Messapians, like the Peucetii, used to have a lot of cavalry, but their infantry was weak—no good armor, loose formations, no discipline, and they didn’t know how to form a phalanx. So they never dared to face us directly; they only knew how to ambush and harass, like cowardly bandits! But then the Athenians—” Polydorus’s voice doubled in volume. “We are a subordinate state of Sparta, so of course we sided with our mother city in the Peloponnesian War, but the Athenians actually went so far as to help the barbarians! They provided armor and weapons to the Messapians, sent men to train their heavy infantry, and incited them to oppose us! Now that the Messapians have mastered Greek tactics and have Athenian support, they have done even more damage to Tarentum than before! If not for Archytas—” At this point, Polydorus’s expression darkened.

Drakos, completely ignoring Polydorus’s change in mood, pressed on, “What are the combat characteristics of the Messapian cavalry?”

Polydorus glanced helplessly at the others, and seeing that everyone was interested, he reluctantly said, “The Messapians are skilled riders. It’s said they can control the direction of their horses with just their legs, without holding the reins, and they are good at throwing javelins from horseback. They pose a certain threat to our heavy infantry.”

Davos exchanged a look with Philistos.

Polydorus noticed and quickly said, “Although the Messapian cavalry is stronger than ours, cavalry is only an auxiliary in battle. What really matters on the battlefield is the heavy infantry. Even if the Messapians once had Athenian help, their heavy infantry cannot compare with true Greek heavy infantry!”

Drax then asked, “How many men do the Messapian-Peucetian coalition actually have? And how many citizens can Tarentum send to fight?”

Polydorus looked at him, spread his hands, and said, “I am only an envoy. How many citizens will be sent to fight is decided by the Senate—I have no say in that. As for the size of the Messapian-Peucetian coalition… We don’t even know whether Archytas is alive or dead, let alone their exact numbers. But my personal estimate is that they should not exceed 30,000 men. As for Tarentum, counting the garrison troops at Brundisium and Manduria, we have at least 16,000 able-bodied citizens who can fight. With your Daonian force of 14,000 men joining us, plus the 3,000 from Metapontum and Heraclea, our combined army will far exceed 30,000. Defeating the Messapian-Peucetian coalition should not be difficult!”

…

After seeing Polydorus off, Davos and the others returned to the residence to continue their discussion.

“Lord Davos, if what that envoy said is true—that Tarentum can send over ten thousand men to join us—then we can first go to reinforce Manduria.” Drakos pointed at the map, speaking with confidence. “Our force will be twice that of the Messapian-Peucetian coalition. We can not only defeat them but even consider destroying a part of them. That way, when we march north to reinforce Brundisium, it will be much easier.”