Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Third, Crotone must not interfere in Roscianum's joining the alliance with Thua Union, however, Krimisa must remain neutral. (After all, Krimisa is very close to Crotone, and them joining the alliance with Thua Union will be like a sharp knife against Crotone's abdomen. So Lysias, will of course, not agree with this, and Marigi didn't insist on it, because the Thua Union doesn't even have the strength to help Krimisa defend against the attack of the enemy. Therefore, Davos has decided that the Krimisian captives will be the same as that of Crotone. Six months later, they will then be released, and the envoy of Krimisa is very grateful, and promised that, “We won't be enemy with Thua Union!”)

Fourth, the Thua Union must not form an alliance with Locri, nor sign any agreement that is against Crotone. (Lysias strongly insist this, and Marigi pretended to be in a dilemma. But in fact, Davos had already told him in private, “We currently do not have any plan to form an alliance with Locri, in order to not provoke Crotone and having the negotiations break down.” Marigi used this as a bargaining chip in order to force Lysias to make some concessions in other aspects.)

Fifth, from the date of signing the agreement, Crotone and Thua Union will maintain the armistice for three years, and will renew the agreement according to the situation after the agreement expires.

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

The delegates of Crotone returned to their home city-state with the preliminary agreement. After the confirmation of the Council, they once again went to the city of Thurii.

When they returned to Thurii, the attentive Lysias noticed that the smoke and burn marks in the walls of Thurii is no longer there, and the collapsed areas were filled with newly built stone bricks and mortar, which looked like it is new from a distance. He was shocked by the labor's high efficiency and the enthusiasm of the people of Thurii. In fact, in his heart, he did not want to have any conflict with the Thua Union, but when he left, Milo had repeatedly reminded him, ‘Even if an armistice agreement is to be sign, it should not exceed two years.’

Lysias understand that most of the strategoi of Crotone and its Council members, headed by Milo, does not accept their defeat this time, and they are ready to take revenge in the future! Crotone is famous for its sports competition in Greece, and the personality of its people is also characterize with unyielding sportsmanship, which is somewhat similar to that of the Amendolarans in the Thua Union, who he had been in contact with for more than two days.

With a sigh, Lysias and his party entered the camp on Thurii again.

Apart from changing the duration to “two years”, there were no other major changes in the other contents of the armistice agreement. The two sides offered a sacrifice to Apollo, and chanted the names of the gods and pledge that “Crotone and Thua Union will never violate the armistice agreement”, then they signed their respective city-states' name and their own sacred vows. (Why to Apollo? Because Crotone and the former Thurii worshipped Apollo as their city's patron god, so that both sides could abide by the agreement.)

After completing the agreement, Lysias was eager to return, and Davos and the others would not detain him. Before sending Lysias to embark on the ship, Davos said with sincerity, “I hope that Crotone and Thua Union will never go to war again!”

The sharp gaze of Davos made Lysias felt that the scheme of Milo had already been seen through by this young archon, and he immediately said, “Apollo sees from above, and this is also my sincere wish!”

Staring at the bow of the ship, and the still noisy construction site on the city of Thurii, and looking at the merchant ships that were passing by at the estuary of the sea, Lysias left Thurii with full of worry…

Davos and his entourage were at the dock and were watching the ship of Crotone depart.

Cornelius then said, “Now we are safe!”

“Yes, we are temporarily safe! But I am afraid that Crotone will come attack us in two years!” Said Kunogelata calmly.

“That's right. Otherwise, they would not specifically ask for a shorter armistice period. Therefore, we must make full use of these two years to make the Thua Union stronger as soon as possible, so that any forces that covet us will not dare invade!” Davos encouraged everyone.

“Yes!” It aroused everyone's spirit.

“Lord Davos, let's look at the compensation in the armistice agreement-” Marigi immediately wanted to request it.

But Davos interrupted him and said, “All of these will go to the treasury and will be in the custody of Mersis.”

Mersis' eyes brightened up.

“It's use will be planned, managed and disbursed by the Redevelopment Council, and, also the previously seized supplies will be used entirely for the daily expenses of the people of the city's reconstruction and public construction. Any department that needs allowance must submit an application to the Redevelopment Council for approval before they can get the funding, and the financial officer will be the one responsible for its supervision!”

When Davos finished speaking, Mersis winked at Marigi, and Marigi looked away in anger and didn't want to look at him.

“In addition, on the first day of each month, Mersis, you must give a detailed report on the collection and expenditure of the treasury at the meeting, If there is a mistake, you will need to take full responsibility!” Said Davos sternly.

“Yes.” Mersis answered weakly.

“Asistes, go and tell the captives about the agreement. If the Crotonians doesn't want them to mine, then we will have them build roads. We will build a road connecting Heraclea, Amendolara, Thurii and Roscianum, and have the son of Heracleides…”

“Heracleides the Younger.”

“Yes, him. To lead the whole road project, and have him take a group of craftsmen to supervise and manage the project according to the previous drawing plan.”

“Understood, Lord Archon.” Alexius, the aedile, responded.

“I can understand the reason of building a road connecting Heraclea, Amendolara and Thurii. But why Roscianum as well? Since Crotone will likely launch an attack in two years' time, and it is impossible for Roscianum to stop them, then won't it make more convenient for the enemy to march after the road is built?” Ansitanos asked with doubt. The other statesmen of Thurii also showed concern.

So Davos explained with seriousness, “If we build a road leading to Roscianum, then we will have more frequent exchange and trade with Roscianum, and be more closely connected, which will make Roscianum be more inseparable from us. And with this road, our troops and supplies can reach Roscianum faster. Roscianum is also our ally now, so we have the responsibility to maintain their security, and in the future, Roscianum will be our vanguard to defend against the enemy from the south. Of course, building the road will also make it easier for the enemy to get to us, and so, we must do our best to keep the enemy out of our territory so that they can't use our road.”

Ansitanos and Kunogelata were absorb in their thoughts, some were motivated by it, while the others were skeptical…

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

After a busy day and returning to his tent late at night, Davos found someone waiting for him inside the tent.

“Andrea, why are you here? What happened to Cheristoya?!” Asked Davos impatiently.

Andrea bowed respectfully, “Milord Archon, because Madam knows how busy you are in the reconstruction of the city of Thurii, so she does not want to disturb your work, but I think that I should tell you about it.”

“What's the matter?!” Asked Davos urgingly.

“A few days ago, Madam has vomited and couldn't eat anything, and so I wondered if she is pregnant. And so, I asked Lord Herpus to examine her, and she is indeed pregnant.” As soon as Andrea finished speaking, Davos became surprised and asked once more, “Cheristoya is really pregnant?!”

“Yes, Milord.”

“Great! Great!…” Davos hugged Andrea with excitement, then spin her around several times, ignoring the shyness of Andrea.

He then shouted out loudly, “Martius! Martius!”

“What's the matter, Milord?” Martius came inside.

“Go fetch my horse, I want to go back to Amendolara!” Said Davos impatiently.

“Milord, it is already too late, and the road is not safe, so you should return tomorrow.” Said Martius.

“I can't wait that long! Cheristoya is pregnant! And I am going to be a father for the first time, so I need to go back to see her right now!!” Said Davos firmly and excitedly.

“Congratulations Milord! This is the blessing of Hera! In that case, we will escort you back.” Said Martius, who was also happy.

“Great!”

A group of people galloped out of the camp, and the rapid sound of the horses' hooves awakened many people in the camp, “Who is riding in the camp so late? This is against the rule!”

“I heard that the wife of the Archon is pregnant, and so, he is going back home!”

“Really?! Then this is really a happy event!!”

Late at night, the originally quiet camp became lively with cheering.

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

Davos came home in a hurry and run upstairs, then he saw a small head poking out of the door, looking out warily.

“Cynthia!” He picked up his little daughter and gave her a kiss, “It's already so late, why haven't you gone to bed? Do you want to get spank?!”

“I woke up because of you.” Cynthia wiped the saliva from her face with her little hand, and complained with her mouth pouting.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” Davos patter her on the head with a smile, and then said, “Where is your brother?”

“Sleeping inside.”

“What about your Mom?”

Cynthia hesitated and pointed to the master bedroom.

Davos put her down and patted her on the bottom, “Go to bed then.” With that, he then strode to the master bedroom.

Cheiristoya was looking at the account book under the oil lamp, when she heard the sound of footsteps, she turned her head and looked, and was surprised, “How come you are back?”

“If I didn't come back, you would have kept it a secret from me, right?” Said Davos, pretending to be angry. He then sat down next to Cheiristoya, put his arm around her, and patted her plump hips twice with his other hand, “How dare you not tell me that we will have a child?!”

“You already know about it?” Cheiristoya then put her arms around Davos' neck, “Did Andrea tell you about it?”

“Fortunately she told me about it in time!” Davos then pointed to the thick account book on the table, then scolded her, “You aren't taking good care of your body and our child! From now on, Andrea and the others will take care of these things, and you need to take good care of yourself at home and let our child grow up healthily!”