Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Aristocrates understood what the “Tragedy of Thurii” mentioned by Davos, it refers to the fact that the Thurians went to attack the Lucanians two years ago and rashly entered the mountain area, and eventually, all died on the bank of the Lao River.

After thinking about it, he still has some reluctance in his heart, “But…it would be a shame to miss such a good opportunity!”

“Aristocrates.” Davos smiled, “I would like to ask you something, is Theonia stronger now, or is Pyxous or Potentia stronger?”

“It is without a doubt that it is us, Theonia! Even if Pyxous and Potentia joined hands, they are still not our rivals!” Aristocrates answered back without hesitation.

“Since that is the case, what we should do is to eat them like when eating a bread, take a bite and slowly chew them and swallow them into our stomach and then turn them into our strength until we are full, instead of eating them in one bite one after another without swallowing and ends up choking.” Davos explained patiently.

“I understand milord!” Aristocrates said with sincerity, he is smart enough to understand what Davos meant. They should first spend time and energy to gain a firm foothold in the centre of Lucania, and then use Theonia's strength to crush Pyxous and Potentia from the front without slowing down.

“And so we also have to negotiate with the envoys of Pyxous and Potentia and sign peace agreements with them, such as non-aggression to appease them and prevent them from blatantly making trouble in the surrounding areas of Grumentum, but the duration of the agreements must not be too long.” There was a hint of murderous intent in Davos' gentle tone.

“As for Garaguso…I heard that they are located in the depths of the mountain and have little contact with the outside world, and their living environment is poor, so we can consider allying with them and strengthen trade exchanges….” As Davos was speaking, he heard voices from the outside of the living room, and he immediately stopped talking and smiled, “Seems like there is an interesting guest.”

“Interesting guests?” Aristocrates rarely heard such comments from Davos, and so he looked out the door curiously, when it dawned on him as Ribaso, the one who was managing the slaves, led a man in, ‘So it was him!’

When the envoys of the city-states of South Italia came together to ask Theonia for help, Siprus, a native of Terina, was quite notable for his long, thin, spear-like figure. Even his behaviour is quite notable, not only due to being the first envoy among the Crotonian alliance to give full support to Theonia's offer to create a South Italia Alliance but even during the time Theonia sent reinforcement, the envoy of Terina, Siprus, had strongly demanded to march together with the Theonian army and had even eaten and lived together with the soldiers. There was even a report that during Terina's ecclesia, Siprus had greatly praised the military might of the Theonian army and proposed that Terina strengthen their cooperation with Theonia…

Aristocrates remembers that after hearing about this man's performance, Davos had commented that Siprus was quick-witted, observant and has a flexible mind that knows how to adapt!

Hence why he is one of the distinguished guests proposed and invited by Davos.

At this moment, as Davos gazed at Siprus, the thought that came to his mind was the confidential report regarding the conversation between Siprus and the envoy of Elea in the Cheiristoya's Restaurant last night!

Davos knew that after Theonia defeated Crotone and its emergence as one of the most important and powerful forces in South Italia, it was only natural that it would attract a lot of attention. And while Theonia's unique political system can't escape the attention of those who wanted to see it, not many have analysed it as detailedly as Siprus did…

“Siprus, a good friend of Theonia, we very much welcome you!” Davos said in a loud, happy voice, “I have been busy with the celebration these days, so I have wanted to invite you after the celebration to express my thanks, but I didn't expect that….”

Siprus greeted him respectfully and said, “Archon, I insisted on coming to visit because I was forced to do so and the city-state urgently asked me to convey a proposal to you.”

“Oh…what proposal?” Davos motioned Siprus to sit down and speak.

Siprus glanced at Aristocrates and he stopped talking.

“I would like to introduce you, Aristocrates, a very talented young man, he is my exclusive scribe*.” Aristocrates was deeply moved by Davos' words. (In fact, the reason why he is only a scribe is that he has not yet become a preparatory citizen.)

Siprus nodded to him, then he sat down on the wooden chair and then asked, “Does milord archon know about the Bruttians?”

As soon as the words came out, Davos understood what Siprus meant, “I know something about this neighbour to the west of Theonia Union. The Bruttians are native to Italia and also live in the form of tribes, however, compared with the Lucanians, they are fewer in number and less of a danger to Theonia. And I heard that they often attack Terina.” Said Davos while looking at Siprus with a smile.

“It is not just Terina, they are also attacking Aprustum and the south of Thurii from time to time.” Cautioned Siprus.

“But after all, their attack has only been few and far between, and since the establishment of Theonia Union, the harassment on us has completely not been seen.” Davos said with a relaxed look.

“In fact, since last year, the Bruttians have stopped invading all the territories of the Greek city-states, and it wasn't just because of the combined forces of Crotone, Scylletium and us Terina inflicting heavy losses on the Bruttians.” Siprus paused for a moment, as he sensed the focus of Davos' gaze. He deliberately increased his tone and said, “It's also because of the great changes that have taken place within the Bruttians.”

“What change?” Said Davos with a jolt in his heart, while his expression is still calm.

“Terina is on the border with the city of Clampetia of the Bruttians, and having fought the Bruttians all year round, we are relatively familiar with them and has some sources of information.” Then the expression of Siprus became grave, “Last year, we heard that the chieftains of the Bruttian tribes had gathered in the city of Consentia to discuss the formation of a tribal coalition.”

“Is that true?!” Davos was startled and couldn't stop himself from leaning forward. It was no wonder that he became slightly upset because the reason why he had pretended not to care was that when he found out that the visit of Siprus was due to the Bruttians, he did not want to be too enthusiastic and lose too many chips when discussing the future attack on the Bruttians, who after all could not pose as great a threat to Theonia as the Lucanians.

As far as he knows, in the small mountain area occupied by the Bruttians, their tribe has always been scattered: The tribes in the north are centred on the city of Vergae, and due to its border with Laos, they had close relations with the Lucanians in the past and had even been present during the previous invasion of Thurii by the coalition of Lucanian tribes. The tribe in the middle is centred on the great city of Consentia and is the strongest among the tribes. In the east, on the upper reaches of the Crati River, live other Bruttian tribes, who had built the small city of Besidice, and in the past, they occasionally cross over the mountains to plunder the southern part of the Sybaris plain. In the southeast of Consentia, is another small city, Anbania and was said to have been built by the tribes that originally fled from the city of Aprustum when it fell to Crotone. To the south of Consentia is the city of Clampetia, and borders Terina and is also responsible for the invasions on Terina.

The mountainous region of the Bruttian, with its high mountains and rugged road, and is the only high plateau in south Italia. The city of Vergae and Clampetia guards the narrow passage between the north and south of the west coast, and Besidice and Anbania block the only two mountain roads connecting with the east coast, making these four areas a fortress. Since the time it has been called the land of the Bruttians, it has always been the Bruttians that rushed out of the mountains and invaded the others, while they have never been invaded, however, there were a lot of internal tribal wars. Most of the wars were started by Consentia, who was the most powerful and wanted to annex the other tribes. In addition to Clampetia's close relation with Consentia, Vergae had remained neutral, while Besidice and Anbania often joined hands to fight against Consentia. It is precisely the frequent inter-tribal wars that had consumed the strength of the Bruttians, making them less of a threat to the city-states in Magna Graecia. However now that the Bruttians that are always fighting each other now even want to establish a tribal coalition, which greatly increases the threat they pose to the Greeks, especially Theonia, whose majority of their territory bordered the Bruttian mountains.

“It's certainly true.” Siprus affirmed, “Because in May this year, the Bruttian Tribal Coalition was established! It was reported that all the Bruttian tribes have elected Pian, the chieftain of Consentia, as the chieftain of the coalition, while Sedrum the chieftain of Vergae, Likumu the chieftain of Besidice, Bodiam the chieftain of Anbania, and Pangam the chieftain of Clampetia became the elders of the coalition, with Consentia as the centre of the coalition and governs all the Bruttian tribes…”

After hearing the words of Siprus, Davos could no longer sit still. He stood up and paced back and forth slowly, then asked in a deep voice, “Where did you get all this information from?”

When Siprus saw such a display from Davos, he knew that the matter had attracted the great attention of the highest power of Theonia, and he was immediately in a great mood.

However, little did he know that the reason why Davos cared so much about this matter was not only because the Bruttians had formed a tribal coalition that could cause danger to the territories of Theonia Union, but also because Davos had already been considering the Bruttian issues for quite some time now.

With Theonia defeating Crotone and with the establishment of the South Italia Alliance, it had made it so that only a few powers could contend against Theonia in south Italia.