“Asi, you did a great job collecting this much information about the commander of Crotone, Melanseus!” Praised Davos after listening to Asistes.
“It’s mainly because he is so famous in Crotone that as soon as our people arrived at the port of Crotone, they manage to get his information from everywhere…” Said Asistes truthfully.
Davos nodded, “We can see that this Melanseus is a proud man. In such a battle concerning the survival of a city-state, why was he made as the commander?”
Asistes answered, “It might be due to how Melanseus has never been defeated in the battles that he had participated in. Besides, he fought bravely and liked to attack quickly. Crotone must have wanted to settle the battle with Thurii as soon as possible. Moreover, they had also sent Timaras, an old and steady man, as his adjutant. I believe that he would be able to balance Melanseus…”
“Hmmm…your analysis is reasonable!” Davos thought of something and asked, “What are the characteristics of the soldiers of Crotone?”
“The citizens of Crotone are keen on physical training, and they have many famous athletes. In each of the four major sports events, and the athletes of Crotone has always won the championship, specially in wrestling, boxing and discus throw. Therefore, the citizens of several city-states have always say that Crotone’s soldiers are powerful, attack fiercely and agile…”
Davos rubbed his chin, “That is to say, their individual combat strength is very strong. What about their group strength? Do they often conduct military training?” ．
Asistes laughed, “Milord, not every city-state trained as frequently as us, Amendolarans, and the intensity of our training is also high. The Crotonians spent much less time training on military drill than on the arena!”
“It seems that you are not satisfied with our training.” Davos laughed as well.
“How come? I like the training best! Specially rugby!” Asistes immediately defended himself.
“Isn’t rugby a sport?!” Continued to ask Davos.
After a burst of laughter, Asistes asked, “Milord, will the war between Crotone and Thurii affect us?”
“It is impossible for us to not get affected!” Sighed Davos, “A weak neighbor is always much safer than a new neighbor who is strong. At the most critical moment, Amendolara still had no other choice but to go to Thurii. Those idiot Thurians did those stupid stuff, and now it seems that our plan to attack Lucania need to be postponed…sigh, it is hard to predict what will happen!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Burkes rushed to Amendolara and asked for reinforments from Davos.
In the council, the statesmen argued fiercely. Most of the native citizen statesmen like Cornelius and Raphias who does not support sending reinforcements and they believed that this is what the Thurians had brought to themselves. What is more, Amendolara and Thurii are allies in name only, but in fact, they are already in the state of the alliance breaking apart. So there is no need for Amendolara to offend a powerful city-state for a neighbor who frequently causes trouble for itself. Moreover, the army sent by Crotone seems to be very strong, and even if Thurii and Amendolara unites, they still won’t be able to defeat the Crotonians.
The new citizens, such as Kapus and Hielos, believed that currently, Crotone has a very strong momentum, and so Amendolara should wait for a chance and make a decision according to the situation.
But Alexius, Antonios, and the other new citizens have different opinions. They think that it is necessary to protect Thurii in order to ensure the safety of the surrounding environment of Amendolara. The wall of the city of Thurii is high and thick, even if Amendolara does not battle them head-on, they can at least help Thurii guard the city inside it. As long as the attack of Crotone is blocked, then they will have to withdraw within a month. After all, the daily food consumption of tens of thousands of soldiers isn’t a small amount.
Alexius and Antonios spoke in a reserved way, while Epiphanes said it in a loud voice without any scruple, “We would rather have our neighbor to be the weak Thurii than a strong Crotone, which would make us uneasy day and night, unless Amendolara joins the alliance of Crotone, but are you all willing?”
Burkes, the envoy of Thurii, would be ashamed if he were to hear this, but he was currently staying in the wing room of the council, waiting for the final decision of the meeting.
Epiphanes’ words have move the statesmen that are present, but after a long discussion, Davos still has to be the one to give the final decision.
Davos looked around at everyone and said solemnly, “I don’t need to go into details because you have already analyzed the situation very clearly. What I want to say is that we have signed a treaty of alliance with Thurii, which is a sacred treaty signed under to eyes of the gods and in their names! In the past, we have ridiculed Thurii for their treachery, and now, when a greater danger comes, can we keep our oath?!”
Davos pauses, seeing their shame and contemplation, he raised his voice once more and said, “OF COURSE WE CAN! We want to prove to all the city-states of Magna Graecia that, as an ancient city-state with a long history, Amendolara, will stick to her promise and uphold the glory and tradition that we had inherited from ancient heroes, such as Heracles, Theseus, and Achilles, regardless how difficult the situation is!”
When Davos went to look for Burkes, he announced to him the decision of the council, “Amendolara has decided to abide by our previous agreement and to send reinforcements.”
Burkes was in tears.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Due to the flooding in the area to the north of Krimisa, swamps and mud flats have formed, which have slowed down the march of the troops of Crotone. It took them a day to arrive at Roscianum, a city that had join the alliance of Crotone after the destruction of Sybaris. Instead of resisting, they opened the gate and welcomed Melanseus into the city.
In the city of Roscianum, Melanseus met the envoy of Thurii and Taranto who were waiting.
Faced with the pleading of the envoy of Thurii, he did not even have the patience to listen, and just said impatiently, “The sword of Crotone has been pulled out of its sheath, and it will never be sheathed without tasting blood.”
Melanseus still showed a slight respect for the envoy of Taranto, but he asked, “What would Taranto do if a city-state that have violated your agreement with them and have killed your envoy at the same time?! Can the lost dignity of Taranto be compensated just by them paying for some money?!”
The envoy of Taranto was unable to respond for a moment.
Melanseus looked at him with disdain and said firmly, “And so Thurii will be punished!”
As night fell, the strategos of Crotone was ready to go to bed, when the guard hastily reported, “Strategos, there are two people outside that wants to see you and they said that they have an important information to tell you regarding Thurii…and wants to exchange with you.”
Important information regaring Thurii?! Melanseus became interested, “Bring them in!”
The two sailors, under the watch of the guards, went inside the bedroom of Melanseus trembling.
“So let’s talk about that important information that you want to trade with me.” Melanseus, with one of his hand on his head, while laying on his side on the bed, looked at them with disdain, “If it is really valuable, then I will consider your request.”
The two looked at each other, and one of them made up his mind and quietly said, “Noble strategos, I am a freeman from Thurii…”
With the sailor’s words, the gaze of Melanseus brightened, and he turned over and sat up with excitement on his face…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Although Davos promised to send reinforcements, he did not immediately summoned his troops to set out. After all, it was Thurii who was asking for help. If Amendolara were to immediately rushed to help, the world would only laugh at him for his childishness.
He first agreed in order for Thurii to stabilize the morale of their army and their people, so that the people of Thurii could boost their fighting spirit against Crotone. However, Davos wanted to wait and see. First, it is to observe the fighting situation of both sides and understand the army of Crotone. Second, only when Thurii needed the reinforcements the most can they reduce the casualties of the soldiers of Amendolara, and to gain the gratitude of the people of Thurii, and to increase the chance of defeating Crotone. In any case, Amendolara is not far away from Thurii and only need a half a day walk to reach.
Amendolara’s response made Nianses be temporarily relieved, and at the same time, he was very grateful to Amendolara and regretted his extreme behavior. After this information was spread to the people of Thurii, the low morale began to rise and praise Amendolara one after another. But the information from the south had made their hearts tighten. It took only two days for the army of Crotone to arrive at Roscianum, and both Krimisa and Roscianum did not resist them and had opened their gates to greet them. Moreover, they have strengthened the army of Crotone, and more importantly, Crotone rejected Thurii and Taranto’s peace agreement…
The incoming bad news frightened Nianses. On the one hand, he is cursing Crotone, Krimisa and Roscianum in the bottom of his heart, and at the same time, he asked Burkes to go to Amendolara and urged them to send their reinforcements quickly. While he also asked the citizens to reorganize their weapons and to strengthen their defense. He even began to consider whether to implement the advice of Ansinatos and mobilize the freeman to participate in the war.
However, on the next day, the army of Crotone that are stationed outside of the city of Roscianum did not move, and they even sent some people to invite back the envoy of Thurii, saying that a peace could be negotiated.
When this news reached Thurii, the strategoi and the people were in a tense mood, and were looking forward to a good news about the armistice.
In the afternoon, Melanseus declared that the negotiation broke down and expelled the envoy of Thurii on the grounds that the envoy of Thurii had delayed to comply with the request of Crotone and was not sincere (in fact, Melanseus had asked too much and refused to give in), and then he immediately ordered his troops that had been prepared to advance to Thurii.
When Nianses heard about this, the army of Crotone was already under the gate of Thurii.