“So what?!” Melanseus glanced at him with a not convince expression on his flushed and drunken face, “The place where he and I were born is the arrangement of fate, so it is only natural that he is doomed to lost!”
He asked in a loud voice again, “Thurii and Amendolara are allies, and I heard that when my army was approaching Thurii, Amendolara has promised to send reinforcements, right?”
“It is true that the envoy of Amendolara had once said, ‘just give us a few days to gather troops and wait for the reinforcements to arrive, so Thurii must definitely hold on!’” Answered Ansitanos, adding a little more to emphasize the original words of the Amendolarans, as he saw the face of Melanseus get more flushed.
Melanseus turned to Timaras who was next to him and said, “Tomorrow, send someone to question Amendolara, ‘Ask them whether they want to be the enemy of Crotone? and to make them immediately break the alliance agreement with Thurii and form an alliance with us!’”
Timaras hesitated, “Amendolara is allied with Taranto!”
“So what if they are in alliance with Taranto? They had also formed an alliance with Thurii, so why can’t they form an alliance with us?” Said Melanseus.
“Alright.” Timaras reluctantly agreed.
Melanseus turned his glass, with his eyes gleaming, ‘Davos, what will you do?’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The news about Crotone capturing Thurii had spread quickly across Magna Graecia, and Thurii immediately became the focus of attention.
The city-states such as Taranto, Locri, and Rhegium had all paid close attention to the development of the situation. Even the people of Syracuse in Sicily who were preparing their troops and supplies in order to attack Carthage has also paid attention to it. After all, Locri is an ally of Syracuse, and Dionysius had even married a notable family of Locri, Doris, the sister of Demodokas, who is the current polemarchos of Locri. Locri and Crotone are enemies, and so Crotone getting stronger is not what Locri and Syracuse wants to see, as it is also related to Dionysius’ long-term strategic plan.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The envoy of Crotone came to Amendolara and brought with him the order of Melanseus for them to surrender to him, which made the political atmosphere in Amendolara tense.
There was a heated debate at the Council meeting.
Cornelius, Raphias, and Stromboli believed that Crotone who had won a great victory, had came to flaunt their great strength. While Amendolara, who had just experience a war, could not stop them, and in order to prevent their territory from being destroyed, they should temporarily compromise and agree with the demands of Crotone.
Scambras, Tritodemos and Protesilaus, however, suggested that they should delay the time and ask Taranto to test Crotone, and act depending on the situation.
While almost all of the new citizen statesmen were hardliners. They were angered by the arrogance of the envoy of Crotone once he came to the city, and so they firmly said, ‘Amendolara must not yield to the threat of Crotone. If Crotone sends troops to invade, then they must taste the strength of Amendolara!’
After the army of Crotone occupied Thurii, Davos had already expected that such a thing would happen. As a leader who had relied on his military prestige to convince the mercenaries and has become an archon for life of Amendolara by his military might, he must not show a trace of weakness and concession, because that will shake his power. So he resolutely said, “Since Amendolara has already made a decision before, then we should stick to it! Don’t undermine the trust of Taranto in us! What’s more, Magna Graecia should not think that Amendolara is a city-state that will yield to power and disregard its principles for its own sake!”
The powerful words of Davos put an end to the Council meeting.
When the envoy of Crotone received the reply of Amendolara, he was surprised at first, and then he threatened fiercely, “Are you not afraid of experiencing the same thing that happened to Thurii?!”
“You can try.” Replied Davos coldly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The resentful envoy returned together with the reply of Davos, “Dear strategos of Crotone, we Amendolarans are awed by your victory. However, abiding by the agreement signed in the name of the gods is a century old tradition passed down in Amendolara. I hope that you can understand!…”
After reading it, Melanseus laughed angrily, and tore the letter to pieces, “The archon of Amendolara is quite courageous…haha…how would a mercenary know how to keep his promise?!”
He walked back and forth in the hall and made up his mind, “It seems that we need to teach this disobedient little city-state a lesson! Timaras, go and gather eight thousand men and go to Amendolara!”
Timaras anxiously said, “But Taranto-”
Melanseus waved his hand, “Don’t worry, I won’t act recklessly.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After the troops of Crotone left the city, they marched rapidly to the north.
The scouts of Amendolara immediately reported it back, and the people of Amendolara became nervous when they learned about it. 𝘦.𝘰𝘳𝑔
Cornelius, Raphias and the others had once again suggested to Davos that they should soften up to Crotone and join its alliance.
Davos then said, “I am not accustomed to being forced to make peace with a sword and a spear!”
The new citizen statesmen, however, were eager for a battle, and calling for the mobilization of the troops and clashed head-on with the arrogant Crotonians, but they were also forced down by Davos.
Davos then ordered everyone to go back to the city and complete the defense.
Due to his authority, the officers had no choice but to obey his orders.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Council of Taranto also paid a close attention to the movement of Crotone’s army. They got the news later than Amendolara, and the archon immediately held an urgent consultations with the statesmen.
The statesmen had said one after another, ‘Crotone ignored that Amendolara was an ally of Taranto, and attacked it blatantly, which shows that they look down at Taranto! There must be a serious protest against it!’
However, most of them were cautious about whether Taranto should take part in the war in the event of a battle between Crotone’s army and Amendolara, saying that they should act depending on the development of the situation. After all, Taranto and Crotone are great powers of Magna Graecia, and each with a group of allies. Once there is a war, it won’t just end with just a few battles.
Archytas volunteered in the council to go meet the Crotonian commander, Melanseus, and it was then approved. Taranto then sent an envoy to go to Crotone by boat, and it only took a half day to reach there with favorable wind.
While the council of Taranto was still in a discussion, Melanseus had already led his army across the river Saraceno, and two hours later, they reach the foot of the mountain. He looked at Amendolara over the hill, the city wall is full of armed soldiers and under the direct sunlight from the east, made it looks like a shining wall, and he couldn’t help but say, “The soldiers of Amendolara all look like this. If I attack them in the morning, the sunlight will make my soldiers suffer.”
He ordered his troops to form a phalanx formation, which was more than 500 meters long, and slowly approached the city wall. They beat the round shield, and shouted a battle cry, which was very powerful…
However, under the strict orders of the officers, the soldiers of Amendolara just stood quietly at the top of the city wall without saying a word.
Arsinis was unable to bear it and said, “Captain, the Crotonians are too arrogant. We should also shout back.”
The squad leader Xethipus, however, only quietly said, “Shut up, this is the order of the Archon, do you want to violate the military law?”
As soon as Arsinis heard this, he stopped complaining.
“Anyway, you must remember, as long as the Crotonians doesn’t attack, we will just watch them perform. As long as they dare to attack, hmph…” Reminded Xethipus.
“Understood!” Arsinis tightened his grip on the spear in his hand. Even though the enemy troops under the city looked extremely massive, Arsinis still looked forward to their attack, so that his skills that he had trained hard during this period could be used.
Seeing that the Amendolarans did not respond, Melanseus immediately stopped the marching and sent someone to the city to ask to see the archon of Amendolara, Davos. However, there was no reaction from the top of the city wall.
Melanseus thought that Davos was afraid and dare not have a direct conversation with him, and so he simply sent some soldiers to insult him.
“Davos is a coward, and so, he dare not face the army of Crotone!”
“The Amendolarans doesn’t even dare to take breath the moment they saw the army of Crotone!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When the recruits heard this, their faces turned red and they began to complain. Then they were scolded by the veterans, “Courage and cowardice, you won’t know until you fight, so what’s the use of talking about it. As for the Archon, when he led us to defeat the Persians many times, I’m afraid that these Crotonians are still enjoying the cheers of the audience on the stadium.”
In fact, these veterans were also holding themselves back, but the experienced ones are used to following the orders of Davos, and they also don’t want to waste their energy on unnecessary things.
Even though the soldiers of Crotone were getting hoarse, the Amendolarans still didn’t have any reaction.
Melanseus was not amused with it, and so he finally ordered, “Burn down all these buildings as a warning to Amendolara!”
Melanseus was humiliated and angered by the silent Amendolara. And so, all the warehouses and inns that were about to be completed at the foot of the mountain of Amendolara burned in flames, and the efforts of the Amendolarans for several months were destroyed…
The flaming blaze reflected the angry faces of countless soldiers on the wall. Their eyes widened and glared at the departing Crotonians…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When this news reached the Council, everyone in the meeting place became angry.
Only Davos looked calm, as he listened attentively to Asistes, who came back from the city, and he carefully described the performance of the army of Crotone under the city. From this, he inferred the character and psychology of Melanseus and verified the things he already knows.
“Did the Crotonians do this in order to declare war on us?” Said Raphias in surprise.
“The Crotonians has invaded our territory and burned our buildings. This is already a declaration of war!” Reminded Philesius.