Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

“Those are our spoils, it has nothing to do with Laos and Roscianum!” Bagul immediately objected.

“Bagul, calm down. Do you know what is stipulated in the Theonian Alliance agreement?” Davos asked patiently.

Bagul shook his head. He became a citizen of Theonia for just half a year, and he had not even fully understood the laws of the union, let alone the alliance agreement.

“When Theonia is at war, all allies need to send troops to participate in the war, and the spoils they get will be fairly divided….” Said Asistes, who was beside him.

“Yes, fairly divided!” Davos emphasized in a loud voice, “As an ally of Theonia, Laos had immediately sent 3,000 soldiers and even their archon, Avinoges, had personally led it himself as soon as he found out that we had declared war with Crotone. While Roscianum had not only refused Crotone's invitation, but they had also given us great help in the battle. These two allies had given their full support to Theonia during the war. Could it be that we Theonia is too stingy that we are too reluctant to share the spoils with them? Then which city-state would like to fight together with us in the future! In my opinion, it wouldn't even matter if we give all the spoils to them, because we still got a more precious things-”

In the face of Hieronymus, Bagul and Asistes, Davos slowly uttered a word, “Land!”

The three men immediately understood that the spoils they got could be shared, but the land won in the war is owned by Theonia alone. Theonia had used the soldiers of their allies to expand their territory for themselves, which was actually quite a good deal.

“Grand legatus, speaking of land, I have a situation to report to you.” Asistes interrupted, “Many Lucanian soldiers of the third legion thinks that the mountains around Aprustum are suitable for grazing, and the environment is even better for grazing than that of Nerulum, so they have ask me if they can get their share of land here.”

“You mean that they ask for an allocated land for their own?” Davos reacted very quickly and immediately understood the meaning of Asistes' words.

“Yes.” Asistes said in embarrassment, “They didn't know whether they will get any more land, because their tribes have already been allocated a settlements in Nerulum.”

Instead of answering immediately, Davos looked at Bagul and asked, “Do you know about this?”

“I know.” Bagul answered truthfully, “Asistes had already discussed it with me. Most of the soldiers who had come to ask for an ‘allocated land’ had come from various tribes in Nerulum. It is because they have seen that the Greek soldiers can own their own land, while they have to share it with their tribes, that is why they requested that they want to ‘leave their own tribe and live alone’.”

Davos looked at him and continued, “Do you think that their demand is reasonable?”

“I think that it is very reasonable!” Without considering the thoughts of Davos, Bagul replied without any hesitation, which had made Asistes worried, “The ‘allocated land’ that the soldiers earned in exchange for fighting for their lives should be owned by themselves, and the soldiers being independent will be more beneficial to their integration into Theonia.”

There was a smile on Davos' face, “I am glad that you can think of it that way! But what do the leaders of those Lucanian tribes think?”

“I don't think that they would object.” Bagul obviously thought about this issue and said, “In the past, the reason why the Lucanian tribes absorbed manpower was in order for them to survive and strengthen themselves, but now that they are under the protection of Theonia Union, we no longer have a crisis for survival. On the contrary, the departure of these soldiers will make the land in the hands of the tribe be richer, which is a good thing.”

“Then I agree to give an allocated land to those Lucanians who wants to be independent.” His words made Bagul and Asistes happy, but as he pondered, he began to pace back and forth. He is happy to see that the Lucanians tribes will be broken up and be eventually integrated into the union. However, he is worried that such a radical action will arouse the resentment of the leaders of these small tribes, which will not be favourable to the infiltration of Theonia into the northern region of Lucania in the future, so he should be careful, “But before doing that, after we return to Thurii, I will first let your father and Hemon go to Nerulum to test the attitude of those tribal leaders and try to persuade them. Hence, the allocation of land to these soldiers may be delayed….”

Bagul and Asistes agreed.

“If some of the soldiers of the third legion also settles here, then the training and gathering of the whole legion will be very troublesome in the future!” At this time, Hieronymus raised an objection.

Davos smiled and said, “It is not only the third legion, but also the first and second legions will have many of their soldiers settling down in Aprustum and Krimisa. Who told us to gain so much land so quickly? With this much land, if we don't allocate it to the citizens, preparatory citizens and registered freemen who have made achievements in this war, then this land will be left idle for the enemy to take! I am afraid that after the land allocation is completed, we will have more than three legions…Philesius(Military Officer), Raphias(Census Officer), Burkes (Agricultural Officer) and you(Hieronymus), Kapus, Drakos and the senior centurion will be the one in charge of coming up a suitable plan for the specific personal arrangements and organization….”

Hieronymus reluctantly agreed, while Bagul and Asistes were a little bit excited because the expansion of the army will mean that there is a chance for them to become a legatus.

At this moment, Davos suddenly became conscious that in less than a year after they came to Thurii, they have experienced four wars, and under the circumstances of successive victories, the land, population and the army have expanded so fast! And thought that it might be the time for them to stop and integrate the union first.

“Oh, isn't that Aristocrates?” Izam said suddenly.

They looked down below the city wall and saw Aristocrates passing through the moat and was about to knock at the gate.

It was already getting dark, and yet Aristocrates had still come running to find himself, it is certain that there is something important! Thinking of this, Davos hurriedly went down the city wall.

As soon as Davos arrived at the gate of the city, Aristocrates had already entered the city. When he saw Davos, though he was tired, he still smiled and said, “Lord Davos, I have gotten a letter from Thurii today! Congratulations milord, your wife have given birth to a boy yesterday morning!”

Davos rejoiced with excitement, he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but his excitement did not weaken, “A son! I have a son now!! My own son!!!….” Davos abruptly hit Hieronymus who was next to him and shouted excitedly.

“Congratulations milord! This is the blessing of Hera!!!….” Hieronymus, Bagul, Asistes and the others, including the soldiers who were around and heard it had all congratulated him.

Davos grinned and hugged them warmly to express his joy. At the same time, he teased them that they should work hard and to not fall too far behind him.

Then he planned to take an escort to return to Krimisa and after quickly arranging all the matters, he would then rush back to Thurii at night. However, he was stopped by Hieronymus and the others, and even forced Davos against his will to stay in Aprustum for the night. Because it would already be dark once he set out, and he would even need to cross the mountain roads and rivers, and the war had just ended. If an accident were to happen, they would not be able to explain it to the people of Theonia.

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

The next day, Cheiristoya had just finished feeding the baby and fell asleep.

Azune was holding the baby in her arms and was basking in the sun in the courtyard, she then noticed that the baby had pooped, so she had to go back to the outer room of the bedroom, scrub him with warm water and put on a new cloth diaper and then told the other slaves to wash the dirty clothes.

Afterwards, she put the baby back into the crib near the bed and sang to him. Gradually, the baby closed his eyes, and so Azune took advantage of her spare time and lay beside the bed for a nap. In a daze, she felt someone patting her on the shoulder, “Azune.”

Azune immediately woke up, looked around and could not believe who she saw, “Master, you are back!”

Davos made a hush gesture and asked in a low voice, “How is Cheiristoya?”

“Lord Herpus said that she and the baby are healthy, but the lady needs to take care of herself for a while. Lady Cheiristoya is currently sleeping in the bedroom.” Azune whispered, “Master, come and take a look at how cute the little master is!”

Davos crept forward and looked at his son carefully with excitement and curiosity. In fact, the child who was just a few days old wasn't really cute because of his red and wrinkled skin. But Davos was so fascinated that he couldn't stop himself from stretching out a finger and gently touching the baby's red face.

The sleeping child seemed to feel itchy and scratched his face with his little hand.

Davos felt it amusing and so poked him again.

When the child scratched his face again, he opened his big and bright blue eyes, and so, the father and son looked at each other closely, then the child curled his mouth and cried loudly.

Whether in his previous life or in his present life, Davos had become a father for the first time. So he had no experience in dealing with the current situation and was at a loss.

Azune then took the baby and tried to calm him.

“Azune, is he hungry again?” Cheiristoya's soft voice came from the bedroom.

“He is not hungry madam, just that, the master has returned!” Azune said excitedly.

“Ah!” Cheiristoya exclaimed in surprise.

Davos then walked quickly into the bedroom and saw Cheiristoya lying on the bed and was a little bit tired, but her complexion wasn't bad.

“You are back!” There was a joy in her eyes.

“I am back!” Davos sat on the edge of the bed, he then leaned over and kissed his wife.

“Thank you for doing your best!” He said softly.

Cheiristoya propped herself up and snuggled into the arms of Davos, with a happy expression on her face, “Have you seen our child?!”