Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 7: Dionia's Influence

And these carriages couldn’t simply be driven or carry passengers by just anyone. There was a private organization—the Carriage Guild—that specifically managed the public carriages within the Daonian Alliance. Only those whose driving skill and carriage equipment passed inspection were granted a license to operate. If anyone dared to carry passengers without authorization and was caught, the patrol would come knocking.

Moreover, Daonia had enacted a special law regarding vehicle traffic on the main roads, said to have been proposed by Davos himself: “All vehicles on the main road must keep to the right.” This way, inbound and outbound traffic wouldn’t interfere with each other, not only reducing the chance of accidents on the road but also naturally allowing the carriages to move faster.

Of course, Nicostratus and his companions didn’t bother to investigate the finer details behind these carriage regulations; they simply enjoyed the speed.

After an hour, the carriage entered the marshland of the Crocyleus River. No, it was now called the Crocyleus Plain. After more than two years of effort, the Daonians had successfully transformed this area. They built dikes on the low riverbanks of the Crocyleus, dug ditches, drained the water, filled in the soil, dried it out, burned the brush… The once foul, muddy, snake- and insect-infested marsh had been turned into fertile, high-yield farmland, so tempting that even the senators of the Senate coveted it.

Davos had overruled all objections and fulfilled his earlier promise by distributing a portion of this land to the freemen who had participated in the long project. Because of their contribution, almost all of them smoothly became preparatory citizens of Daonia.

Someone in the Senate had once proposed building a small city on this land.

That proposal was fiercely opposed by Scombrus, then the chief magistrate of Crimissa. His argument: Crimissa had expended manpower and resources to support the transformation of this marsh, and the construction of the Crimissa–Castron road had given Crimissa the capacity to administer this new small plain…

Under his insistence, the Crocyleus Plain was placed under Crimissa’s jurisdiction, which instantly boosted the strength of the once-small city of Crimissa to the forefront among the cities of the Daonian Alliance. This also caused some native-born citizens of Crimissa to feel their status had risen, and they wanted a share of the land on the Crocyleus Plain. Naturally, the Senate would not allow them to act recklessly, and that became one of the causes of strife among Crimissa’s populace.

Here, too, were endless stretches of farmland, but unlike the Croton Plain, the newly developed fields still had weeds growing between the furrows. Blessed by Persephone, the goddess of spring, they were covered with colorful wildflowers, making the land even more vibrant. In the distant mist, a village could be vaguely seen, with thin wisps of smoke rising. The sounds of children playing, parents scolding, chickens crowing, and dogs barking occasionally drifted into the ears—a scene full of vitality…

Lycasus, who had been staring out the carriage window the whole time, suddenly focused on a few nearby shepherds driving a large herd of cattle and sheep to drink by the river. Their attire was different from the Greeks, yet so familiar to Lycasus.

“Those are Bruttians!” Lycasus cried out, as a sharp pain from the depths of memory struck him. When he was a child, he had seen Bruttians burning, killing, and looting on the Croton Plain, so the memory was vivid.

Nicostratus also pressed his face to the window in surprise to look outside.

“There’s nothing strange about it,” Ephialtes said smugly. “These days, the Bruttians don’t just live in the mountains to the west. There are settlements of them in other parts of the Daonian Alliance too. Even in Asperustum, there are Bruttians who have come down from the upper valleys of the Neto River to settle. And here—the Crocyleus Plain—is the place with the most Bruttians outside the Bruttian highlands. They say there are several tribes.”

Lycasus stared blankly at the Bruttian shepherds talking freely by the river, unable to put his feelings into words. To the young people of Croton, the Bruttians were the “nightmares” their parents used to scare them with when they were little, to make them behave. Now they were citizens conquered by Daonia.

“I heard that there have been some battles in the Bruttian region in recent years,” Nicostratus said, seemingly offhand.

“What battles?” Ephialtes retorted. “Just some small conflicts between Bruttian tribes over land. The chief magistrate of Cosentia settled them easily.”

Nicostratus gave a cold laugh, and the carriage fell into a chilly silence once more.

In this cramped space, the men from Croton and the Daonians didn’t seem to get along easily.

Before noon, the carriage entered the city of Castron. The driver needed to rest the tired horses for a while to recover their strength, and also to feed them hay and water, so the passengers had an hour’s break.

Nicostratus, however, discussed with Stasippus whether to rehire a carriage to take them to Thurii, because he could no longer bear the inexplicable pride that seemed to emanate from the very bones of their fellow passenger, the Daonian citizen Ephialtes.

Cerdias watched the three Crotonians rush into the carriage depot, shook his head helplessly, and turned to walk toward the nearby Cheiristoya’s Restaurant.

Fortunately, there were still empty seats inside. As soon as he sat down, he saw his fellow passenger Ephialtes enter the restaurant with his fiancée. He greeted them and then ordered his meal.

Two years ago, a blacksmith in Thurii had invented the frying pan (after countless experiments prompted by Davos), and Cheiristoya’s Restaurant quickly introduced a series of fried foods made with olive oil, which soon became all the rage throughout the Daonian Alliance.

Cerdias ordered a portion of fried cod and two honey-glazed bread rolls. Soon, the golden-brown cod fillets and fragrant bread were set before him. Hungry as he was, he eagerly grabbed a hot bread roll and took a big bite. The crispy yet soft bread, mixed with the sweet fragrance of honey, stimulated his taste buds and whetted his appetite even more.

He quickly picked up his knife, cut a piece of fish, speared it with his fork, and put it into his mouth…

Cerdias finished his meal in no time, patted his full belly with satisfaction, then cleaned his utensils, set them neatly, and bowed solemnly. It was said that this set of tableware was invented by Daonia’s chief magistrate Davos, inspired by Hades. Cerdias firmly believed it—wasn’t that small iron fork with only two prongs actually Hades’ bident?

The waiter cleared the dishes. Cerdias ordered another cup of wine, sipping it while listening to the other diners’ chatter. As someone who had traveled through the Daonian Alliance many times, Cerdias could tell that most of the patrons in this restaurant were locals from Castron. Although the Greek dialects of each city-state had their own differences, the Daonian accent was undoubtedly the most distinctive. Ever since they had incorporated Lucanians, Bruttians, Thracians… all equally into the Alliance, making them Daonian citizens, their respective cultures had clashed and blended. Even their speech had changed considerably, with unfamiliar words from Lucanian or Bruttian popping up from time to time. The self-proclaimed nobles of Croton and Tarentum took this as evidence of Daonian “barbarism.”

Cerdias, however, did not share such prejudice.

Most of what these Castron locals talked about had nothing to do with their own city of Castron, but rather with their neighbor—Thurii: how lively the upcoming Marriage Festival celebration would be!… How beautiful was Agnes, the second wife of Daonian chief magistrate Davos!… How Davos managed to satisfy both of his beautiful wives!… The Daonian Medical Forum was about to be held in Thurii—which doctors from Castron would attend?… And so on.

Some people spoke mysteriously: rumour had it that Daonia was about to build its first stone bridge…

Others excitedly chatted: the newly completed third arena in Thurii would be used exclusively for football matches…

Some bragged: how magnificent was the horse racing celebration they had seen last autumn on the Cosenza Plateau…

Others countered: the ram-fighting contests in Lucania were even more exciting…

And more people would say in unison: what was even better and more thrilling were undoubtedly the South Italy Rugby matches and the Daonian Football matches…

When the patrons talked about their own city, it was mostly complaints. Some even declared: it would be better for Castron to become part of the Daonian Alliance instead of remaining independent as it was now—more free, perhaps, but unable to get more benefits from the Alliance. Castron citizens also wanted more land…

Such outlandish words were not only unchallenged but even drew approval from a few diners.

Daonia’s influence in Magna Graecia was growing stronger and stronger! Cerdias sighed in thought. Estimating the time, he left the restaurant and headed back to the carriage depot. Beside his hired carriage, he saw the three dejected Crotonians.

It turned out that all the carriages in the depot had been hired out. Many engaged couples and ordinary citizens from Castron wanted to go to Thurii to attend the Marriage Festival at the Temple of Hera.

So the same six people ended up traveling together again, in silence.

After three bumpy hours, the carriage finally stopped.

“We’ve arrived,” the driver called out.

Lycasus looked outside and saw a crowded stream of people, towering watchtowers, and a long wooden bridge.

“This… shouldn’t be the city of Thurii yet, should it?” Lycasus said doubtfully.

“This is the southern outer city of Thurii. Carriages are not allowed to cross the bridge, or it would cause a jam. The medical school you want to go to is inside the Daonian Academy, not far from here across the bridge…” Although the interaction with these Crotonians had been awkward, as a Daonian citizen, Ephialtes felt a sense of responsibility as a host. After saying these words, he took his fiancée’s hand, got off the carriage, and followed the crowd toward the sentry post at the southern city gate.