Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 104: Good News and Bad News (Part 2)

Dionysius gave Scylletium fairly lenient surrender terms: Caulonia would provide supplies and troops to fight alongside the Syracusan army, and in exchange, Syracuse would not station troops in Caulonia. Of course, what the Caulonians didn’t know was that to secure their surrender, Dionysius had also written specially to his brother-in-law—the chief general of Locri, Demodokas. Because while Locri was fully supporting Dionysius’s invasion of Magna Graecia, they had made a request: they hoped that after Dionysius crushed the South Italy Alliance, he would hand Caulonia over to them. Dionysius had agreed. To this end, Dionysius had to once again assure the Locrians: the current arrangement for Caulonia was only temporary, all expedient measures to defeat Croton and Daonia as quickly as possible. After truly conquering these city-states, Caulonia would still be handed over to Locri as previously promised. The Locrians accepted Dionysius’s explanation. The Caulonians, of course, didn’t know their fate was already sealed; thinking they had escaped a great disaster, they eagerly showed submission to Dionysius and soon dispatched 5,000 soldiers and a large amount of supplies to Scylletium.

Caulonia’s surrender freed up the Locrian army that had been besieging Caulonia; they quickly turned south and passed through the mountain passes. Although Pheidon, because the messengers he had sent east had not returned, had been wary of the east and, to be safe, had stationed a small force to guard the entrance to the passes, the news from the north was completely blocked by the Syracusans. He was completely in the dark and never imagined that in just a few days the situation in southern Magna Graecia had changed dramatically. The Locrians attacked so swiftly and in such numbers—fully 15,000—and so quickly that the Rhegian force of less than a thousand defending the pass was quickly routed. Pheidon was besieging Medma when he received the news, greatly alarmed. Without any time to organize his troops to meet the attack, he was overwhelmed by the surging Locrian force charging into his camp. When Pheidon, along with countless routed soldiers, fled in panic across the Maro River and into the city of Tauriana, his original force of 10,000 was left with fewer than 7,000.

Dionysius was overjoyed to learn of Caulonia’s surrender and Rhegium’s defeat, because now, except for Rhegium, all of southern Magna Graecia was pacified. He could confidently advance north with full force, while the barely surviving Rhegium could be handled by Locri alone without his concern. So he ordered Leptines: except for leaving a few warships to guard the port of Trina to continue cutting the sea link between Daonia and Rhegium on the west coast, all the other warships participating in this campaign were to concentrate at the port of Scylletium. He also ordered all units to complete their rest as soon as possible and prepare to march north.

The war between the South Italian Allied Army and Syracuse was not just a matter between the Greek city-states of Magna Graecia and Sicily; it also attracted the attention of many powers throughout the Mediterranean. Not long after the Battle of Lamato River, news of Syracuse’s victory quickly spread across the western Mediterranean. The city-states and powers involved were pondering the war’s impact on themselves, and some even began scheming.

…

That day, the Daonia Senate was holding a routine meeting, mainly discussing two issues: first, the recent departure of the Sixth Army Corps to Crimissa had increased the logistical pressure on the Ministry of Military Affairs, resulting in a shortage of personnel to transport grain and supplies; second, a proposal forwarded by Seclian through Hieronymus: the departure of the Sixth Army Corps had caused a shortfall in the combat soldiers assigned to the warships, and he requested the formation of a new Army Corps. At the same time, the rowers of the Daonia Combined Fleet were barely sufficient; if losses occurred in a naval battle, replacements would be hard to find. He hoped to recruit rowers from allied states as reserves.

“I think… solving the Ministry’s shortage of transport personnel is simple,” said Kynogoratas, the Chief Magistrate of Thurii, thoughtfully. “Ever since the sea routes were hit by the Syracusan navy, merchant ships have noticeably decreased. Many laborers in the port—stevedores, warehouse keepers, ship repairmen, cart drivers—are out of work and idle all day, causing trouble for public order. The Ministry can recruit some workers from the port. They don’t even need to be paid with wages; as long as their food supply is guaranteed, they will work well, and it will also relieve the pressure on the port patrol…”

“That really is a good idea!” Mariji praised, then cautioned: “But even if using food as compensation, we must control the supply quantity. As the war continues, grain will only become more precious than drachmas.”

Hieronymus nodded, indicating understanding.

At this point, Kynogoratas questioned: “I don’t understand why Seclian insists on recruiting rowers from allied states?! Our port has so many idle hands—why not use them?!”

Seclian was not a senator and was not present, so the only remaining officer of the Ministry of Military Affairs, Hieronymus, had to answer, though he was not good at these matters: “Well… time is tight now… Seclian needs experienced rowers who don’t require much training…”

“Seclian’s fleet has taken up a large amount of Thurii’s manpower, yet it always hides in the Crati River. What is he doing?! He should lead the fleet to drive off those Syracusan warships that run rampant in the Gulf of Taranto, even if only to restore our shipping routes for a day or two!” Mariji complained.

“I don’t know much about the naval situation, but I know Lord Davos ordered him to do so.”

As soon as Hieronymus finished speaking, Mariji immediately gave a dry laugh and said: “Since Lord Davos has already made arrangements, we probably don’t need to worry too much about the Syracusan fleet.”

In the Senate, those who blindly believed in Davos like Mariji were not few, but Petalus, who had been somewhat distracted for the past two days after learning of the South Italian Allied Army’s disastrous defeat at Scylletium, found Mariji’s fawning demeanor disgusting.

He sneered inwardly, then turned his gaze to Kaduruk, who also seemed absent-minded.

“How about this: we send someone to negotiate with Castron and Heraclea to recruit some rowers…” Cornelius stood up and had just started to voice his suggestion when the meeting hall’s door was suddenly pushed open.

The guard captain responsible for the Senate’s security rushed in.

The Rotating Chairman, Kynogoratas, seeing his panicked expression, asked: “What happened?”

“Gentlemen, we just received an urgent message: Metapontum has been captured by Tarentum!”

“What?!”

The Tarentine magistrate Diomilas stood on the walls of Metapontum, smugly looking down as Tarentine soldiers poured through the already opened gates, slaughtering the still-resisting Metapontine citizens in the city’s districts.

The Tarentine army’s attack was very smooth; they quickly advanced toward the central square. The sounds of fighting reached Diomilas’s ears, gradually fading.

“Let’s go to the Acropolis!” Diomilas could hardly wait to claim the fruits of victory.

Diomilas descended the wall, mounted his horse, and rode with his attendants straight ahead. Everywhere on the streets were corpses of Metapontines and wounded crying for help, but he paid them no heed: since these descendants of Tarentine blood had chosen betrayal, they should not expect forgiveness from Tarentum.

Just as Diomilas arrived at the square, his subordinates came to report good news: “The Acropolis of Metapontum has been taken!”

“So fast?!” Although Diomilas was confident that Tarentine soldiers were far superior in quality to the Metapontines, he hadn’t expected that the defense of a city-state’s core fortress—the Acropolis—would also be so weak.

“Isalocas and his men persuaded the soldiers guarding the Acropolis to surrender,” the subordinate explained.

“I see.” Diomilas’s doubts disappeared.

After all, Metapontum had once been a subordinate state of Tarentum. Although after centuries of development the blood ties had thinned and politics had become independent, they were in an alliance and had long been under Tarentum’s protection. Many Metapontines were still close to and fond of Tarentum. It was only because Tarentum’s mistaken and aggressive policies in previous years had caused great losses to Metapontum, and Tarentum persisted in its reckless course, that the Metapontines had turned to a stronger neighbor—the Daonia Alliance—to avoid further harm. Daonia’s more lenient policies toward allies reassured Metapontum, but that did not mean Metapontum wanted to completely sever ties with Tarentum. Quite the opposite: once the crisis passed, the Metapontines began to miss their mother city again. With the active promotion of the pro-Tarentum faction led by Isalocas, relations quickly recovered and exchanges increased (though there were also conflicts). After all, Metapontum was closer to Tarentum. This could be seen from the fact that each year, among the elected magistrates and senate members of Metapontum, the pro-Daonia and pro-Tarentum factions had similar numbers. In every senate meeting, these two factions would argue fiercely over which side a bill concerning Daonia and Tarentum favored more, sometimes even clashing. In fact, the pro-Daonia faction led by Tudeples was weaker than the pro-Tarentum faction, since Daonia had only recently become their ally. But Daonia’s rapidly growing strength gave them confidence, making the pro-Tarentum faction, led by Isalocas, back down at critical moments for fear of provoking Daonia. The Daonia Senate was well aware of the situation in Metapontum, but considering the relationship with Tarentum and the treaty of alliance with Metapontum, they could not easily interfere in its internal affairs. However, they firmly believed that as Daonia’s power grew stronger, Metapontum would naturally become more closely aligned.