Then he asked the question that the statesmen were all concerned about, “What is happening on Grumentum in the north?”
“On the day after we had captured Nerulum, the scouts of Grumentum entered the ‘Fertile land between the mountain ridge’ After being discovered by the soldiers of the fourth brigade, they immediately fled.” Answered Sesta.
“So soon? Did they find out that we have captured Nerulum?” Davos asked in doubt, because the Senate had received the war report that no one had escaped after they had captured Nerulum.
“Erm….it’s like this….” Seeing that there was something wrong on the expression of Davos, so Sesta quickly explained, “Bagul and I had analyzed it afterwards that when we attacked Nerulum, some people of the city were grazing on the mountains, and when they saw that the city fell, they directly fled to Grumentum….since then, the scout of Grumentum have never been seen again. Then we sent the team of Izam to scout, and at the same time, through the information from the Lucanians who came from the north, we learned that Cincinnag, the chieftain of Pyxous, had a very bad relationship with the tribes that had betrayed Lusau after they occupied Grumentum. Those tribes did not obey the orders of Cincinnag because he had not fulfilled his promise to them. Now, each side occupies half of the city and are on guard against each other. Perhaps for this reason, Grumentum did not take any action against our occupation of Nerulum!”
The improvement of the situation in the north did not make Davos feel better. On the contrary, he looked serious and asked, “Why hasn’t anyone reported these things to the Senate first?! The Senate will not interfere with your governance of Nerulum, but we manage the entire Union, every accurate intelligence and information determines the next step of the Senate, to go war with Grumentum? To have peace with Grumentum? Do we need to mobilize the entire Union?…and so on. Do you think a single Nerulum can take the offensive of the Lucanians?!”
Davos’ unceremonious criticism made Sesta unable to lift his head up, and Asistes felt more guilty: Originally, he was going to report it to Davos, but Sesta said,‘We need to first figure out the situation, because if we were to ask the Senate for instructions every time, it would just show how incapable we are.’ Out of the bravado nature of being young, he agreed. But when they managed to get to the bottom of the matter, they heard that Davos and the others were coming, so they put it aside for now. But they didn’t expect Davos would be so angry.
“Lord Sesta, you have violated the orders of the Senate and have killed the captives without authorization! Because the Archon has interceded for you, so the Senate did not pursue the matter seriously! Now, you are making your own decision, and aren’t taking the Senate seriously. Do you think that the Senate will not impeach you because you have a two-year term?!” Scambras criticized him loudly.
Then the statesmen expressed their dissatisfaction on the approach of Sesta one after another.
Sesta’s face flushed red, but he cleverly remained silent and did not argue for himself.
Of course, Davos would not let the praetor and the aides that he himself recommended continue to be criticized, so he said, “Your achievements are still major! However, I hope that you can learn from this lesson and keep in contact with the Senate at any time so that we can have a timely grasp on the situation in the Lucania region….” As Davos said this, he decided that once he goes back, he would increase his investment in his private intelligence organizations, and urge Aristias to expand their area.
“Is there anything else you have forgotten to report?” Davos reminded him again.
“Everyone!” Asistes blushed, he summoned up his courage and said, “The day before yesterday, a Lucanian came to complain and said, ‘My daughter married a Greek, and the Greek got the status of a preparatory citizen. But after he managed to rent the allocated land, he began to treat my daughter badly. He beat her and swore at her every day and said that he wanted to divorce.’ After our verification, what he had said is indeed true. So we then warned the Greek, saying, ‘If you dare to divorce her, we will cancel your preparatory citizenship and expel you from the Union!’ But I am afraid that this is not the only case. I hope the Senate pays attention to this matter!”
“What you have done is correct! However, for such a shameless person, I think that we should give him a beating as a warning!” Although he doesn’t like the Lucanians, he much more doesn’t like the people who take advantage of the law and play tricks.
“It seems that it is necessary for us to investigate the living conditions of those freeman who had married Thurii women, and to amend the previous marriage laws by adding additional requirements, such as to not allow divorce within 5~8 years….” Said Davos thoughtfully.
His words aroused the approval of the statesmen and so they discussed the amendment of the marriage law.
On that night, after the crowd left, Asistes admitted his mistake to Davos. Instead of criticizing him, he praised his performance in Nerulum that had exceeded his expectations. He hoped that he could continue to play a greater role in Nerulum and be able to stick to his own ideas and not be influenced by the opinions of other people….
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the morning of the next day, the expectations of the statesmen of Theonia did not fail, Avinoges of Laos drove a large number of livestock, and carts loaded with animal furs and jewelry (mainly amber), and ten Tarants as thanks for the help of Theonia. This time, the statesmen of Theonia did not complain, and they immediately held a simple but grand banquet for the arrival of Avinoges.
The banquet was held at the praetor’s residence in Nerulum. Davos and the statesmen were present, which also included Sesta and Bagul. On the other hand, only Avinoges and his 17-year old son, Henepolis, were present. The position of this father and son in the banquet was arranged to be on the left side of Davos.
Avinoges was about 40 years old, he has a burly figure and looks more like a Lucanian than a Greek. He looks simple and honest, though he wore a Greek chiton, he seems to be uncomfortable. It seems that he seldom wears these kinds of clothes. While his son looks weak and delicate, but has the elegant demeanor of a Greek nobleman.
Although Davos is very young, Avinoges was very respectful towards him. When he followed him into the living room, he was half a body behind and always used honorific terms. Suddenly, as soon as Henepolis was seated at the table, Henepolis immediately asked, “I heard that the Greeks always eat while lying down when they hold banquets. Why is this so different?”
Avinoges gave him a warning glance, while Scambras, who was opposite of him, then said with a smile, “Young man, you know a lot about the way of life of the Greeks.”
“Naturally, I am a Greek!” Henepolis responded impolitely. Perhaps because he was rude, Avinoges patted him.
“Our Union’s hospital has studied that eating while lying down is not good for digesting the food, and it is easy to get fat (in fact, it was a study that Herpus did under the instruction of Davos and then preached it to the patients who came to see the physicians.) And sitting while eating your food can help your food to smoothly reach the intestines and stomach, which is good for your health. For elderly like me, this is very important, so it is natural to choose the correct way to eat.” Scambras said with a smile, in the Greek tradition, the elderly are always very tolerant of young and handsome boys.
“Even in our remote Laos, there are often people who praise the skill of the Theonia Union’s physicians. Of course, what they said is very correct.” As soon as Avinoges finished speaking, Henepolis interjected curiously, “I heard that the physicians of your Union have been guided by Hades. Is this true?”
“I am not sure about that.” Davos said perfunctorily with a smile, “If you have the opportunity, you can go to Thurii in person and ask Herpus, the head of the hospital.”
Then, Henepolis nodded his head vigorously and said, “Uhm, I will go to Thurii soon, and I will ask the person you have just mentioned….uhm….Herpus.”
When they heard this, everyone looked at each other.
Then Avinoges said, “Lord Davos, I have a request.”
“Say it!”
“I want my son to live in the Union.”
As soon as he said this, everyone was surprised.
“Lord Avinoges!” Davos thought that the leader of Laos was worried that Theonia would break the bridge, so he seriously said, “The alliance between the Union and Laos is a sacred covenant made under the witness of the gods! Unless Laos breaks the contract, we, the Theonia Union, will not break the oath under any circumstances. You can rest assured!”
“The story of Lord Davos’ adherence to his promise, no one in Magna Graecia does not know about it, so I of course believe it! I didn’t say this because I am worried about the agreement, but….” Avinoges said with a bitter smile, “Erm….my child is frail and sickly since he was young. I heard that the medical skills of the alliance are superb, and my son has been longing for the Greek culture since he was a child. Therefore, even if it adds trouble to the Union, I will still put forward this decision, but as a father, I hope that the Union will agree to my request!”
Avinoges said it so sincerely that Davos made a decision after exchanging glances with the statesmen, “In that case, on behalf of the Union, I would like to welcome Henepolis to Thurii as a long-term guest! And give him the greatest care in education and medical care, so that he can live a healthy and happy life in the Union, and to be able to return to Laos in the future and inherit your heritage, because he is your only son!”
As soon as Davos finished speaking, Henepolis cheered, “Great! I can finally go to Thurii!….”