Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

“Listen-” As soon as Diaomilas spoke out, Umakas interrupted him, “Let's first listen to the terms of the Messapians.”

Timogeras cleared his throat and said, “Taranto, Messapi and Peuceti immediately cease the war, return each respective territories and each other's prisoner of war, and both sides would sign an armistice with a duration of two years, within which, they shall not invade each other. Afterwards, whether to renew the contract would depend on the situation after the expiration of the agreement…”

“What do you mean by returning each respective territories?” Umakas keenly perceive the problem of this sentence.

“Of course, it is to return to the state before the war began, and the occupied territories be returned!” Said Timogeras.

Diaomilas cursed loudly, “You want us to give up Manduria? Dream on! If you want it, then exchange it with the lives of your Messapians!”

Even though the negotiations quickly broke down, Timogeras was in no hurry and had even thrown down some words, “I hope that you will reconsider it seriously. Our Messapian camp awaits your arrival!” With that, he left without even listening to Diaomilas' cursing. And he could see that except for Taranto's stubborn attitude, the archon of Theonia – Davos, and the strategoi of Metapontum and Heraclea were all somewhat interested by the offer of peace, which means that the Greek alliance were not ironclad and that he could do something about it.

What Timogeras could see, Umakas undoubtedly could as well. So he explained to Davos, “We cannot agree to such a demand for peace negotiations, and even if we did, it would not work because the people of Taranto would not agree to give up Manduria that we have obtained by paying the blood of our citizens!”

Davos smiled, “I understand, but you can bargain as negotiations are like buying and selling goods. The Messapians don't necessarily have to take back Manduria.”

Hearing that, Umakas was a little worried, “The Messapians have no sincerity, and the peace agreement they proposed would only last for two years. In two years, Taranto still could not regain its strength to cope with the aggression that they might start again!”

Davos pondered for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, Tolmides lifted the tent and came in, “Archon, the Senate sent an urgent message saying that there are movements in Bruttii!”

Davos stood up abruptly and asked, “Where is the message?!”

“The messenger is waiting for you in your tent, milord!”

With an anxious expression, Davos went straight out without even saying a word.

And the remaining people could only look at each other.

“Bruttians?” Umakas felt that the name was familiar, but he couldn't remember it, while Diaomilas was not even familiar with them.

“The Bruttians are aborigines living in the mountains west of Theonia and are very close. Previously, whenever they come down the mountain, they would plunder the people and properties of Thurii, Roscianum and other city-states…” Teriphias gave a detailed explanation.

“This…Bruttians should not be powerful, right?” Umakas asked with hope.

Teriphias thought about it seriously, seemingly solemn, but intending to exaggerate the truth, he said, “The Bruttians have very little interaction with the outside world because no other race has ever managed to invade their land*. And I heard that they have dozens of tribes and more than five huge cities and that they are even stronger than the Peucetians.” (The city of Vergae submitted to the Lucanian coalition of its own accord, so strictly speaking, the Lucanians had not entered the land of the Brutti.)

After hearing this, both Umakas and Diaomilas became uneasy.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When he left the main military tent, the anxiety on Davos' face disappeared without a trace, and he even has the leisure to tease Tolmides, “That was a good performance just now.”

Tolmides laughed as well. Back then, he was known as the “first herald of the mercenaries”, one of the main reasons was that he was good at understanding the leaders’ intentions and difficulties and did his best to help achieve or resolve them. It is because he felt the contradictions within Davos that he took the opportunity and used the request of the Siro tribe and shout so loud inside the tent. However, he was unsure whether Davos would accept his initiative, as this was the first time he got appointed as the herald of Davos. Even though the two of them had come and gone in Persia, there is a big difference in status between him and Davos now. And the words of Davos have dispelled his uneasiness.

“What is the specific situation?” Asked Davos in a good mood. Through the time he had spent understanding the Bruttians, even if this race were to move towards unity, he does not think the Bruttians can now pose any significant threat to the Theonia Union.

“It is reported that a tribe of Greeks in Brutti has sent someone to our Senate asking for help because they refused to obey the order of Consentia, and Consentia wanted to send an army to destroy them. For details, you can ask Marigi, who is waiting for you in your tent.” Said Tolmides seriously.

“Oh, Marigi is here as well.” Even though there was movement in Davos' heart, his pace remained the same, ‘Greek tribes?…they should be the Siro tribe…just when I am about to take a nap, someone sent a pillow, just in time to kill two birds with one stone!…’

He kept thinking the whole way and soon reached his tent.

After reading the urgent letter sent by the rotating chairperson of the Senate, Cornelius, and listening carefully to Marigi's narration, a slight smile appeared on his lips, “Wasn't it because of Pollux that you, the busiest Chief of Commerce of the union had come to deliver the letter to me?”

“A Pollux who only barks in the Senate and has no power does not require my attention!” Marigi's eyebrow twitched, “I came to Taranto mainly to take this opportunity to learn about their port. However, lord Davos, it is indeed a fact that Pollux has been a little too active these days, which have caused some statesmen to have other ideas…” Marigi took a few steps closer and lowered his voice as if to remind Davos of something.

Davos looked calm, but his heartbeat beat fast. He does not care much about Pollux' dissatisfaction with him because there are only a few other statesmen in the Senate that would respond to him, and he needed such an “opposition” to show that the Senate not only have his own voice. But if Pollux thinks that he is weak due to his indulgence of him and become rampant, and leads to some possible chain reaction, then he needs to wake him up…

When Marigi saw that Davos was lost in his thoughts, he knew that his words had worked, and so he changed to another matter, “Milord, I heard from the reserve soldiers at Taranto that ‘over the past two days, many people in Taranto have been besieging the camp gate, not only hurling abuse at our soldiers but also demanding for the criminals to be punished.’”

“What criminal? What happened?” Davos frowned and asked again, as he is quite sensitive to violations of military discipline.

“They said that…some of our soldiers have beaten up a theatre owner in Taranto in the makeshift market outside the camp.”

“Such a thing happened?” As soon as Davos heard this, he got angry and shouted, “Tolmides!”

Tolmides answered and came in.

“Go and tell Kapus and Drakos to send their respective military inspectors to thoroughly investigate who in their respective legions was involved in the fighting in the makeshift market before we left for battle!” After saying this, his anger somewhat subside. After thinking more, he added, “And what is the cause of it?”

After Tolmides left, Davos put the matter aside for a while, then turned to Marigi and asked, “What's the price of grain in the market of Thurii now?”

“It's high! Because of the war in Sicily and the war here, especially the war between Syracuse and Carthage lasted so long and the number of participants being a lot that there was a great demand for grains, which had even affected the price of grain in the market of Thurii…” When it comes to commerce and trade, Marigi knows a lot, “However, the grain in Theonia is growing well this year, and in another ten days, after the people finished the harvest, the price of grain in Thurii should have a huge drop…”

Davos stroked the only few beards under his chin, paced back and forth and said, “Then once you return, tell Mersis to use the money in the treasury to buy grains quietly and at least guarantee reserves enough to last four legions for two months.”

Marigi's eyes brightened. He did not even bother to think that such a use of the treasury by Davos without the consent of the Senate was a violation of the Theonian law, as a Persian, who still followed the monarchy system as his core, thought it was reasonable. What he was interested in was, “Milord, have you decided to support the Siro tribe and take action against the Bruttians?”

Davos looked at the excited Marigi and warned him gently, “I am just preparing for the worst, but I hope that you can keep this a secret and don't do anything extra!”

The extra thing, of course, refers to Marigi's use of information about the war to make profits for himself.

No matter how shrewd Marigi is, he still immediately made a solemn promise. He then asked, “Milord, if we go war with the Bruttians, what about Taranto?”

Davos smiled faintly, “Taranto could no longer fight, especially with your arrival. I am afraid that the two archons of Taranto are already discussing how to make peace with the Messapians.”

Marigi's eye lit up again as he thought about the people of Taranto that he saw along the road dressed in black veils with sad expressions. As the commercial officer of Theonia, the fall of Taranto is absolutely a good thing, as he could finally see the hope that the port of Thurii would be able to surpass the most prosperous port in the Gulf of Taranto!

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

In fact, it was the people of Taranto who first proposed peace negotiations with the Messapians. After learning the truth about the war from the wounded soldiers, they began to hate Diaomilas' recklessness and were disappointed with the whole prospect of the war. A few months ago, it was they who had pushed the Council to launch the war against Messapi; however, a few months later, except for the blood that had been shed, Taranto had only gained a little.