Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 88: The Mesapian Coalition Seeks Peace

Finally, the four men turned their gaze to Davos, the Supreme Commander of the allied forces, who had the final say.

At that moment, Davos was torn with indecision. After witnessing Diomilas's unauthorized actions and the easy collapse of the Metapontum and Heraclea contingents, he had become utterly disheartened by such coalition warfare, afraid of being burdened again by poor allies. Triphyas only wanted to take his troops back to the city, while Davos himself wanted to lead the army back to Thurii immediately. But doing so would undoubtedly damage their alliance with Tarentum and might also tarnish the “keeping promises” reputation that Daonia had worked so hard to build…

While he hesitated, a guard entered to report: The Messapians had sent an envoy.

Everyone was surprised.

Davos’s heart stirred. He ordered the Messapian envoy to be let in, to hear what he had to say.

…

Earlier, after the Messapian-Peucetii Allied Forces had gathered their scattered troops and reorganized their army, the Messapian magistrates, led by Pasimelus, believed that although the outcome of the battle was not ideal—the allies had chosen to retreat, and their cavalry had suffered heavy losses—Tarentum’s army must have suffered even greater losses. Compared to before the battle, their own army was now in a more advantageous position relative to the Tarentines. In the next fight, they should take the initiative and continue attacking Tarentum.

But Trellemoni, the King of the Peucetii, who had previously been openly and covertly blamed by several Messapian magistrates for failing to block reinforcements and letting a perfect opportunity slip away, strongly opposed this. He emphasized that the main force of the Greek alliance, the Daonian army, had an unusual formation, was well-trained, and possessed astonishing combat effectiveness. In the mountain battle, they had managed to drive back the Peucetii, who held the advantage of terrain. On the plains, the Messapian-Peucetii Allies would likely be even less a match for the Greek alliance, which was primarily Daonian.

The magistrates of the Messapian city-states had some understanding of Peucetii combat capability, and it was almost unbelievable that the usually unruly Trellemoni would say such things.

At that point, Timagoras stepped forward to endorse Trellemoni. He again emphasized the terror of the Daonian army, because at Igrathia, even though the Messapian heavy infantry had a denser formation than the Daonian heavy infantry they faced, they had been steadily pushed back by the enemy, ultimately leading to a rout!

He also reminded them: The Daonian heavy infantry could throw javelins, which were highly lethal to infantry at close range.

Finally, the magistrates’ expressions grew serious.

Calminus, the magistrate of Ugentum, said with concern, “I hear that across the gulf, Daonia is a large alliance of city-states, governing five or six cities and having many allies. It is far stronger than Tarentum. It could easily send ten thousand men to reinforce Tarentum. Even if we defeat it this time, I think it could send another ten thousand. Can we withstand such attrition?”

After a brief silence, Pasimelus spoke slowly and resignedly: “Perhaps we should seek a peace negotiation with Daonia…”

Peace negotiation?! The others looked astonished.

Only Trellemoni remained calm. Pasimelus noticed this and sighed inwardly: It seemed the Peucetii had little will to fight. If they continued the war, they probably would not give their full effort.

Pasimelus’s hope for peace talks grew stronger. He rallied himself and said seriously, “The Daonians have never had any conflict with us, and they are far away. The only reason they are fighting us is that they are allies of Tarentum, bound by treaty to come here. Defeating us brings no benefit to Daonia; on the contrary, it costs them soldiers killed in battle. If we propose peace talks, do you think Daonia would be willing to accept?! As long as this powerful outsider leaves, only Tarentum remains, and we can in the future…”

Timagoras, the magistrate of Igrathia, had volunteered to go as an envoy to the Greek camp. After the guards confirmed he was not carrying weapons, they allowed him into the command tent.

Inside the tent, besides the guards, there were five Greek generals. Timagoras’s gaze fell on the youngest general: He must be the Daonian magistrate Davos—the prime culprit who had forced the Messapian-Peucetii Allies to send an envoy to the Greek camp!

Cautiously, he nodded to the young general and asked in Greek, “Davos, the Daonian magistrate?”

“Yes,” Davos nodded.

“An honor to meet you!” Timagoras performed a respectful Messapian salute, then said, “I am Timagoras, magistrate of Igrathia, representing the Messapian-Peucetii Allied Forces. I have come as an envoy to discuss with you how to end this meaningless war.”

So it is about peace talks! Davos was inwardly pleased but remained impassive. “I think you’ve come to the wrong person to negotiate. You should discuss this with the Tarentine magistrates, Lords Eumachus and Diomilas.” He inclined his body slightly and gestured with his left hand toward the two men behind him.

“You want peace talks after we’ve just defeated you?!” Diomilas already hated the Messapians, and Timagoras’s ignoring Tarentum as soon as he entered only fueled his anger. “Go back and tell your fur-clad companions: Tarentum does not accept peace talks! We will continue our offensive and retake Brundisium! If you have the courage, try to stop us!”

“Defeated us?” Timagoras sneered sarcastically. “We both know who suffered greater losses in that battle. If you call that a defeat for us, we wouldn’t mind having a few more. Without the timely help of the Daonians, you’d probably be a corpse right now, yet you still have the nerve to shout at me here!”

Faced with Diomilas’s roar, Timagoras retorted without backing down, “The warriors of Messapia and Peucetii are ready. Even if it costs them their lives, they will kill any enemy who dares to invade our lands! I wonder if the Tarentines have the same courage?”

After speaking, without waiting for Diomilas to retort, he immediately turned back to Davos and said, “The bravery of the Daonians has earned the respect of the Messapians. King Trellemoni of the Peucetii also greatly admires you and specifically asked me to convey his greetings to you! But I ask you, Lord Davos: The Daonians crossed the gulf to fight us, with whom you have never had any conflict. If you win, you gain nothing; if you lose, your bones will be buried in foreign soil. Is it worth it?”

Davos was fully aware that this Messapian magistrate had been trying in various ways to sow discord between Daonia and Tarentum ever since he entered. He said with emphasis, “Tarentum is a friendly ally of Daonia. It is Daonia’s duty to uphold our treaty and assist our allies in defending against foreign aggression! Moreover, Daonia is obligated to maintain peace among neighboring Greek city-states, because only when neighbors do not wage war can the people of Daonia live in peace.”

Davos’s words vaguely revealed his expectations and ambitions for Daonia.

Triphyas and Tudeples heard this, and their eyes lit up.

Eumachus looked thoughtful.

Timagoras’s expression changed slightly. He understood the warning Davos had given him. He quickly recovered: “Lord Davos, from what you say, you have come to help Tarentum resist aggression. But in fact, Tarentum is not suffering aggression from us Messapians—it is seizing Messapian land! Manduria is a Messapian city! Brundisium is also a Messapian city! Since the beginning of this year, the Tarentines have launched a massive attack on our Messapian territory, taken our Manduria and Brundisium, killed countless Messapian warriors, and turned countless Messapian people—including women and children—into slaves of Tarentum! We fight back only to reclaim our own land and avenge our people! Lord Davos, you said Daonia has a duty to help neighboring states maintain peace and resist aggression. Does that also include helping an ally invade others’ lands and kill other people?”

Timagoras spoke with passion. Eumachus and Diomilas looked greatly alarmed, but Davos silently praised him: Clever, hitting the nail on the head!

He immediately put on an embarrassed expression: “This… this…”

“Damn Messapian, don’t put on a pitiful act!” Diomilas angrily retorted. “For all these years, who has been the aggressor? Who is the true victim? Every summer, who comes onto Tarentine lands to raid food and kill our people? Our attack this year was only in response to the call of Nemesis, to repay the blood debt you owe Tarentum for all these years!”

Facing Diomilas’s strong rebuttal, Timagoras remained unflustered: “Why do we raid Tarentum every year? The reason is simple: This land of Tarentum originally belonged to us Messapians! Hundreds of years ago, your ancestors drove away the weak Messapians who lived here and took this land!”

“So what! It’s been hundreds of years. The land now belongs to Tarentum!”

“Since you could take it from us, then of course we want to take it back!”

“Unfortunately, you can’t do it! On the contrary, in a few years, Manduria will also become a Tarentine city!”

“Diomilas!” Eumachus loudly interrupted their shouting match. They had strayed from the topic, and the three city-state magistrates led by Davos were already showing impatience.

Eumachus quickly said, “Messapian, you didn’t come here just to argue, did you?”

“Of course not. I came for peace! As Lord Davos said, both Messapia and Tarentum have already lost too many people in this war!” Timagoras immediately put on a solemn expression.