Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 96: Henipolis

Davos fell into deep thought after hearing this: It was customary for Greek citizens to carry three days' worth of rations when going out to fight for their city-state, at most five days. He had never heard of anyone requiring so many days' worth of provisions—it was no different from a direct donation. Citizens were obligated to fight for their city-state, offering blood and life, but they were not obligated to donate their property as well. Doing so would likely cause discontent among the citizens, dampen their fighting spirit, and set a bad precedent…

Seeing Davos hesitate, Mesis continued urging: "Although asking the soldiers to bring more rations is a bit much, they won't lose out at all. Once they defeat the Bruttians, they'll be able to divide up even more land!"

Davos pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Distributing land based on military merit was a plan already set by Daonia. We cannot use this policy to demand extra benefits from the citizens."

"Davos…" Mesis tried to persuade him again.

Davos interrupted him, thinking aloud: "However… Mesis, you've reminded me. We could, in the name of the Senate, borrow a certain amount of grain from the citizens… and once the treasury is sufficient, repay the grain with interest to those who lent it. What do you think of this method?"

"That's a good idea!" Mesis exclaimed. "But the interest shouldn't be too high."

"You set the interest rate." Davos felt lighter now that the military provisions problem was resolved. "You're the best Treasurer in all of Magna Graecia! But you'd better come up with a plan quickly and present it at the Senate meeting."

"With your support, Davos, how could the bill not pass!" Mesis was in a good mood and took the opportunity to flatter him, then said: "The day before yesterday, I went to the Tino River and saw your… that thing being built… well, the hot spring bathhouse is almost finished. When do you plan to officially open it for business? Don't forget to let me know early—I want to be the first citizen to enjoy it!"

Back in Persia, while enjoying massages from the female slaves Davos had trained, Mesis had also heard Davos describe the combination of massage and hot spring bathing—not only more comfortable but also more beneficial to the body. He had long yearned for it. Since construction of the hot spring bathhouse began, he had visited it more often than the true owner, Davos.

Davos knew this well and gladly agreed.

After seeing Mesis off, Davos returned to the living room, pondering deeply over the map of Bruttian territory drawn by the Siris envoy: How should he wage war against the Bruttians? Where would be the best breakthrough point to shorten the campaign?…

After a long period of contemplation, he got up to take a walk in the corridor, to relax his mind and sort out his thoughts.

"Father!" In the center of the courtyard, Adoris, playing catch with a slave using a rugby ball, waved and greeted him.

Davos smiled back and reminded him to be careful. The adopted siblings, once strangers and reserved, had integrated into the family after more than a year of living together. According to Cheiristoya, especially Cynthia had become very sensible and often helped her take care of little Klo. Davos hadn't seen his intelligent and lovely adopted daughter since returning; she was probably still at school.

Thinking this, Davos continued walking along the corridor. After one lap, he ran into Henipolis, who had just returned from outside.

As the son of Avinogis, the magistrate of Laüs, Henipolis had been placed in Davos's home from the very beginning when he came to Thurii to study. This was both to win over Avinogis and to cultivate Henipolis, fostering his sense of belonging to Daonia. Davos's practice gradually became widespread among the senators. For example, children of prominent figures from allied cities like Castron and Nerulum, or leaders of small Lucanian tribes, when visiting Thurii for recreation and study, mostly stayed not in inns but were invited to live in the homes of senators—for instance, the children of Amykles, chief general of Castron, stayed at Kynogoratas's house.

"My lord, you're back!" Henipolis immediately started shouting as soon as he saw Davos: "How was it? Did you beat those barbarians?!"

Davos smiled faintly and said only: "Tarentum has signed a peace agreement with them." Then he changed the subject: "I hear you're now studying under Lord Antistanos."

When Henipolis first arrived, he was unsettled. First, he went to the hospital to study medicine, but after a while, unable to bear the patients' wails and bloody scenes, he backed out. Then he ran off to the Mathematical Academy, but was dizzy from the tedious calculations. He even spent some time at the arena practicing rugby. It was only after the school was established that he applied to study under Antistanos, a scholar who had gained some fame in southern Italy. At least in these past few months, his performance had been satisfactory.

"My lord, that old man Antistanos goes too far! He treats me like a slave—not only giving me a lot of scribe work, but also making me run errands for him all the time…" Henipolis poured out his grievances.

"Is that so? Then I'll go talk to Antistanos and find you another teacher," Davos said seriously, as if truly considering his welfare.

Henipolis quickly waved his hands: "No! Don't go! If you tell him, who knows how he'll torment me later!"

He lowered his head and stammered: "…Actually… actually learning from him… I've really learned a lot. It got me interested in history… Today, he even asked me to write an article about 'Why Sybaris was destroyed.'"

"Oh." Davos became interested. "And why do you think Sybaris was destroyed?"

"Of course it was because of the difference in command ability between Sybaris and Croton during the war! Croton was able to defeat Sybaris because they had Pythagoras, just like today our Daonia was able to defeat Croton because of you, my lord!" Henipolis replied without hesitation, adding a flattering remark.

*Our!* Davos's eyes flickered at the word. He chuckled and said: "There's another more important reason. A long life of wealth and luxury not only corrupted the bodies of the Sybarites, but also corroded their minds, robbing them of courage and will to fight. Otherwise, even if Pythagoras used clever tactics to win the battle, with Sybaris's great national strength, they could have reorganized their army, used their abundant resources and sufficient population to continue a protracted war with Croton, and not let the Crotoniates pursue their victory and easily occupy their city-state!

The same is true of Croton today. Having long been the hegemon of Magna Graecia, they became arrogant and lost their vigilance, and also got used to peace. When our army stepped onto the Croton Plain, they hastily sued for peace. If they had chosen to continue fighting us in Daonia, our alliance wouldn't have achieved its current status so quickly. So there's a saying: 'A difficult environment forces a city-state to strive for survival; an easy life makes a nation easy to destroy!'"

Henipolis's eyes lit up. He repeated the last sentence to himself, then said excitedly: "My lord, you've put it brilliantly! I'm going to write that into my article and show that old man what I can do!"

Davos said teasingly: "Don't say I told you that."

"Of course not!"

Laughter echoed through the courtyard.

...

A few days later, Antaoris returned to Thurii. When the Senate learned what the Bruttians had done, they were furious and clamored to punish the Bruttians severely.

A day later, the Trina envoy Sipros arrived in Thurii, bringing with him a few fortunate Siris survivors who had escaped the Bruttian Tribal Alliance's encirclement.

Davos received them personally and formally promised that Daonia would, at an appropriate time, seek justice for them against the Bruttian Tribal Alliance.

Then, these Siris people, who had lost their homes and whose loved ones had been massacred, not only recounted their tragic experiences before the Senate but also spoke to the Daonian citizens in the squares and at gatherings, arousing considerable sympathy. Many citizens expressed that they should help these pitiful Greeks and take revenge against the detestable Bruttians!

For a time, a tense atmosphere of war pervaded the territory of Daonia, but the Senate did not issue a war mobilization, because the harvest season had arrived…

Corinth, a Greek city-state on the Peloponnese, a city-state with a history as long as Sparta's. Because the Isthmus of Corinth lies in the geographical center of mainland Greece, it not only made it an ideal place for Greek allies to assemble—for example, during the Greco-Persian Wars decades ago, the Peloponnesian League army often gathered there before departing—but also brought it trade advantages due to its unique location.

More than a hundred years ago, Corinth's fame had already spread throughout Greece. Not only was it the wealthiest city in the Mediterranean, but its culture was also highly developed. With such strength and confidence, the Corinthians founded the Isthmian Games, which soon became one of the four great Panhellenic festivals.

This festival, held every four years to celebrate the sea god Poseidon and taking place the year after the Olympian Games, was originally scheduled for this summer but was postponed to September for certain reasons. Even so, Greeks from all over the Mediterranean flocked to this isthmian city-state to participate in and watch the games. Almost every well-known Greek city-state sent athletes. Even Sparta, which had been at odds with Corinth in recent years, sent a team. Only the Athenians, still holding a grudge because after the Peloponnesian War, when the Peloponnesian League cities discussed how to deal with Athens, the Corinthians had strongly insisted on killing all Athenians and turning Attica into a wilderness, did not send any participants.