Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 109: Developments in Lucania

In the Carthaginian Senate, the war faction led by the Magonid family, backed by strong popular support, fiercely attacked the conservative faction under Hanno. Their proposal to launch an offensive against Syracuse and restore Carthage's northern security barrier was ultimately approved.

Thus, the Carthaginian Senate once again appointed Himilco—head of the Magonid family and one of Carthage's two Suffetes (akin to magistrates)—as supreme commander. They also began recalling the army recently sent to expand into the Iberian Peninsula, led by Himilco's brother Mago, while simultaneously stockpiling provisions for the great expedition.

...

A major incident had occurred at Grumentum one day earlier: two small tribes under its northern jurisdiction, Lude and Brina, clashed over territorial disputes, escalating to armed conflict. City Administrator Bacule personally went to mediate, only to be suddenly ambushed and besieged by warriors from those tribes. Caught off guard, Bacule barely escaped back to Grumentum City thanks to his personal guards fighting a desperate breakout. Word quickly spread within the city that Bacule was gravely wounded and in critical condition. At the same time, the city gates were sealed, and strict security measures were imposed throughout, yet no troops were sent to attack the two tribes that had openly raised the banner of rebellion.

For a time, outside the city, the tribes under Grumentum's jurisdiction were thrown into panic, with rumors flying everywhere.

The news soon reached Pyxous and Potentia.

"Son, that old fox Puamot has finally made his move! We can't wait any longer—we must dispatch troops immediately and attack Grumentum!" Sicinag said, both excited and anxious.

"Father, didn't you say earlier that we should wait until Potentia sends out its army before we move?" Grenatus asked, puzzled by Sicinag's excitement.

"The situation is different now! Potentia hasn't sent troops yet, but they've already taken action. Didn't you just hear? 'The city administrator of Grumentum was ambushed and seriously wounded.' This must be the work of Puamot and his allies, secretly stirring up those Grumentum tribes near Potentia! Logically, the Daonians should have sent troops to brutally retaliate against those tribes, but they haven't. Instead, they've locked down the city. What does that tell you?!"

Sicinag waved his arms excitedly. "It means the Daonians don't have spare troops to suppress those rebellious tribes—their soldiers have all been pulled away to attack the Bruttii. Why wasn't the Bruttian messenger who came yesterday as anxious as the last time they asked us to join their alliance? He made it very clear: 'Daonia sent nearly twenty thousand troops to attack the Bruttian highlands from the north but hasn't been able to reach Vegium, and they've suffered heavy casualties; another ten thousand attacked Clampetia from the south and were also blocked in the mountains, unable to advance a step.' Daonia is bogged down in its war with the Bruttians, so the Daonians here just want to hold Grumentum City. Now those Grumentum tribes are as panicked as calves separated from their mothers. We must move before Potentia does—send troops immediately and race to Grumentum's territory. Those tribes will surely submit to us one after another, and our force will quickly swell. By the time Puamot arrives, it'll be too late—Grumentum will be ours, Pyxous's to decide!" Delighted by his own cleverness, Sicinag couldn't help but cackle.

"Father, I'll go summon the warriors right away!" Grenatus, fired up by his father's words, strode out of the hall, leaving behind Sicinag's voice, thick with hatred: "Those treacherous Daonians dared to take my Grumentum—I've finally waited for the day of revenge! Oh God Asinu, I, Sicinag, will offer Greek blood as a sacrifice to you, hoping for your blessing!"

"Brother, what are you waiting for!" Pollet shouted anxiously. "The Pyxousians have already struck first! That cunning Sicinag must have bribed those Grumentum tribes and engineered the ambush that gravely wounded Daonia's Bacule! By now, the Pyxousian army must have already set out. If we don't march, Grumentum will fall to Pyxous!"

Compared to the hot-tempered Pollet, Puamot—the Great Chief of Potentia, now over fifty years old—sat calmly on a wooden chair. At these words, he didn't even twitch an eyebrow, speaking slowly: "I still say the same thing—wait."

"Brother, if you're unwilling to take the risk, let me lead some warriors ahead to Grumentum first—" Pollet persisted desperately, but Puamot's expression grew stern. He fixed his gaze on his younger brother and said coldly, "Potentia is still under my command. If you want to give orders, wait until I'm dead."

Pollet dared not speak further. There was nearly twenty years between him and Puamot; their father had died young, and Pollet had been raised by his elder brother, so their relationship was more like father and son than brothers.

"Pollet," Puamot's tone softened a little. "Don't forget how we lost Grumentum."

Pollet said nothing, but his expression clearly showed resentment.

Puamot sighed, his face growing more somber. "I know that all these years, you've blamed me for being too cautious—for not meddling in Lucania's internal disputes, for letting Acipirus grow strong before, and now for refusing to sink my teeth into the fat piece of meat that is Grumentum... But you need to understand: Potentia is different from Pyxous and Grumentum. They are surrounded by Lucanians, but to our north lie the fearsome Samnites. Don't forget what our ancestors always warned us: 'We were driven into these mountains from the north by the Samnites.' The fact that those Samnites aren't fighting us now is only because we have enough warriors and they're still dealing with the Greeks to the west. But if our strength wanes, do you think those wolves will spare Potentia?"

Pollet's expression shifted slightly.

"At the beginning of the year, I couldn't resist your repeated pleas and sent troops to Grumentum. In the end, you and the warriors were captured by the Daonians... Do you know... during that time, the Samnites sent envoys offering to lend us troops to help defeat the Daonians."

This made Pollet's face change. He couldn't help asking urgently, "Is that true?! Did you accept?!"

"Accept?" Puamot sneered. "If I had, Potentia City would belong to the Samnites by now. Fortunately, we made peace with Daonia in time, and they released you all—only then did I breathe easy. Now, the situation in Grumentum is complicated. The war between Daonia and the Bruttii is still unclear... I can't see through it... If I can't see through it, I won't commit troops lightly. If Sicinag wants to grab Grumentum, let him. The Daonians are not so easy to deal with."

Pollet was silent for a moment, then asked with lingering reluctance, "If that's the case, brother, why did you agree to ally with the Bruttii?"

A gleam of shrewdness flashed in Puamot's clouded eyes. "An alliance is also a way to open another door. Asinu willing! If a good opportunity arises... So now we must calm our minds and wait patiently..."

Piallen raced back to Cosentia on horseback, just in time to intercept Nikurus, who was hastily leading his troops back from Clampetia. After much persuasion, he got Nikurus to stay in Cosentia, agreeing to gather the full army before attacking Besidia together.

But not long after, scout cavalry reported back: the Greeks were building a fort on the road from Besidia up to the highlands.

Piallen could no longer sit still. If the Greeks were allowed to finish that fort, it would undoubtedly make recapturing Besidia much harder. He had no choice but to order Nikurus to lead his warriors and disrupt the construction, reinforcing him with a thousand warriors from other tribes. He repeatedly urged Nikurus not to engage the Greeks in a hard fight.

Nikurus, burning with impatience, marched his troops hard for three hours. When he finally caught sight of the Greeks ahead, his eyes widened: the exit of the mountain pass had been turned into a massive construction site—digging pits, driving stakes, hauling timber—a hive of activity. And there, towering before him, stood a wooden wall three meters high and several dozen meters long, complete with a city gate, battlements, a ditch, an abatis—all the essential fortifications were already in place.

Nikurus had acted quickly, but it had already been a day and a half since the Second Army Corps had occupied Besidia. Legion Commander Drakos had seized that day and a half to split his 7,000 soldiers into three shifts, working around the clock to build the fort. The soldiers, aware of the urgency, gave it their all. Combined with the prefabricated defensive components that the engineering camp had sent up, the fort was already taking shape by the time Nikurus arrived.

When the scout cavalry spotted the Bruttian column, they immediately galloped back to report. Battle horns sounded inside the fort, and the laborers withdrew unhurriedly.

Though Nikurus was astonished at how fast the Daonian soldiers had built the fort—after all, it had taken Besidia seven or eight days just to dismantle its own fort facing Cosentia—he was even more enraged that the Greeks were doing whatever they pleased on his land.

"Kill those Greeks outside the city!" he barked. The war-horns blared, and his warriors, hating the enemy for stealing their homeland, charged like savage wolves at the unarmored, unarmed Daonians.

Under the direction of their officers, the Daonian soldiers showed no panic. They retreated through the city gate in an orderly fashion, back within the walls. Those at the rear even had leisure to glance back, hoping for something interesting to happen.

At a distance of about fifty meters from the wall, the charging Besidian warriors suddenly screamed in agony, one after another collapsing to the ground. When they pulled their feet up, they were dripping with blood—some had their soles pierced by sharpened wooden stakes hidden in the grass, others were slashed by flesh hooks, and shallow foot-trap pits twisted ankles as they stepped in...