Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

“Got it.” Henipolis left in high spirit.

Davos smiled as he watched him leave. Henipolis had lived in his home for a few years, and even though he is blunt and crude, he is still very popular with Davos' family. Davos did not want to let Henipolis knows about the following matter as he treated him as his brother.

He then called in the officer in charge of defending the Lao fortress.

“If I remember correctly, your name should be Tagru, right?” Asked Davos gently.

The nervous centurion was surprised. He did not expect Davos, the lifelong archon and the grand legatus of the army that all soldiers respect, could still remember the name he said when Davos first arrived at the Lao fortress more than ten days ago.

“Yes, Grand Legatus!” He replied excitedly.

“I remember that you are from Grumentum. Are you a part of a tribe or independent?” Continued Davos while motioning him to sit down.

“I am already independent, and I only need to work hard for my family.” Tagru straightened his chest and answered in fluent Greek. In the past years, a popular perception spread in Lucania that independent Lucanians are the true Theonian citizens and have real freedom! Due to the last war, many tribes in Lucania(except Potentia and Galaguso) were destroyed and weakened, isolating the remaining tribes and could only heavily depend on the union. Thus they have no choice but to let go of those who want to leave the tribe one after another.

“Looks like you have a family. Do you have any kids? How is your life?” Davos began discussing family matters with him.

Even though this made Tagru feel surprised, it also made him feel his friendliness, “Thank Asinu, I already have two children, and both are boys and are very healthy!… At first, Lord Bagul gave me 3300 square metres of land, but it was all in the mountain and not suitable for growing wheat. Afterwards, the agricultural officer suggested that I plant apple trees, which I did. Finally, the trees have grown and might bear fruit the following year, which I can sell to the city. They also said that the price of apples in Thurii is higher, but it takes several days to get to Thurii…

And the year before, I took out a loan from the bank and bought 20 lambs and two cows, and now their numbers have doubled. In the summer, I sold six sheep and a cow to the restaurants in the city, allowing me to pay off the loan and get 30 extra drachmaes. And now, I have decided to buy some more livestock next year and try to herd hundreds of livestock up the mountain every day… Milord, I am not afraid of you laughing as this is my dream. In the past, only the tribe have that many livestock…”

“Haha, this is indeed a great dream!” Davos stroked his palm and laughed. He then asked with concern, “What about your family matters while you are on duty at Lao fortress?”

“My wife is a capable woman. She is the one taking care of the children and the fruit trees. In addition, I bought a Thracian slave from the money I borrowed from the bank to help herd my cattle and sheep. And now, there is a village where I live…so during the busiest time, my neighbours would also come over to help.”

After listening to him, Davos said with seriousness, “Being stationed here at Lao Fortress, far away from the city and your home, not only is your daily life monotonous, but you could no go home to take care of your family for a long time… Originally, this arduous task was assigned to registered and trained freemen and preparatory citizens as an important task to shorten their assessment period to become citizens. However, due to the outbreak of war, I propose to replace them with official citizen soldiers. Do you have any dissatisfaction?”

“Milord…ah…to tell you the truth…a little.” Tagru hesitated but still answered truthfully.

“It is because you have received a stricter training and an official citizen of Theonia that once faced with danger, you will defend this fortress with all you can to keep your homes from being trampled upon! After all, Lao Fortress is the only land channel connecting Lucania and Thurii. Furthermore, the space here is narrow, so it is hard to deploy troops. Once the enemy occupies this place, it will cut off the connection between Thurii and Lucania, bringing great danger!” Davos said gravely.

“Milord, do you mean…to say that someone will attack here?!” Tagru stared in surprise.

After all, the Lao Fortress is now in the heartland of the Theonia Union. Thus most of the time, they don't have anything to do besides checking on the merchants and travellers passing by and providing them with simple accommodation and food. Hence, some statesmen once proposed abolishing it and turning it into a post station. In the end, Davos rejected it.

“Danger could appear at any time during the war, and it often comes from the shadows… So from now on, you must be vigilant and not allow any caravans or travellers to stay inside or outside the fortress. Nor should you allow any troops without any decree from the Ministry of Military to enter or pass through the Lao Fortress. Do you understand?”

“Understood, Grand Legatus!” Tagru got up and saluted.

“Tagru, you aren't an official legionary?”

“Milord, I am just a reserve soldier. My tribe was late in joining the union. By that time, too many Lucanians had signed up for the third legion already.” Tagru said with slight dejection.

“I then hope that after this war, I can see your name in the third legion's list of merit!” Davos encouraged him and continued, “Also, once the enemy attacks the Lao Fortress, you shouldn't fight them by yourselves. You should inform Lord Hemon of Nerulum and get his assistance. Understand?”

“Yes, milord!” Tagru saluted excitedly once again. Although he didn't know where the enemy would come from, he was no longer frustrated about being stationed in such a deserted place. He then loudly gave his promise, “Don't worry, milord. I will defend the Lao fortress until the war is over!”

Davos nodded. After Tagru left, he got up and walked towards the window facing south.

As Davos couldn’t see the city of Laos at the estuary of the Lao fortress, he could only guess what Alobamus, who isn't an archon but acts as an archon, is doing at this moment.

Davos began suspecting Alobamus as he did not take the initiative to meet the Theonian army at the Lao fortress twice, and the army he sent to Henipolis were all the loyal troops of Avinoges. In addition, Davos received a report from the intelligence department at Nerulum that they have found traces of Syracusans in the city of Laos.

So Davos took Henipolis away and made his preparation as he waited quietly.

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

Just as Davos led his troops from the Lao fortress into the mountains and set foot on their way back to Thurii, Dionysius had led his 90,000 men* to the Neto River and set up camp on each side. (this army included Dionysius' more than 70,000 troops, as well as Locri, Hipponion and Caulonia's troops who had just joined Syracuse's side.)

The camp stretched for 5 kilometres, with thousands of tents covering the southern part of the Crotonian Plain and the lower bank of the river. Syracuse's engineers also directed more than 4,000 Caulonian soldiers and Scylletian slaves to build a simple dock at the river's estuary, allowing for the transportation of food and provisions to the camp by the sea, providing greater convenience for logistical supplies.

While the army busily constructed the camp, Dionysius led the strategoi close to the city of Crotone to inspect its defences.

At this time, in the city of Crotone, on the advice of the officers of Theonia's ballista troops, they began setting up fortification on both sides of the moat and laying traps, only for them to not finish it due to the quick arrival of Syracuse's army. This is the second time within five years that the city of Crotone has been attacked. However, the fear in the hearts of the Crotonian is much greater than last time. After all, if they were to stand at the top of the city wall and look westward, the only thing they could see was endless white formed by countless military tents that blends with the skyline.

Upon hearing the report, Lysias, Siprus, Ascamas and all the members of the Crotonian council and the officers came to the top of the city wall and gazed at the vicious Sicilian tyrant who was surrounded by hundreds of cavalries, with eyes filled with hatred and a bit of fear.

On the other hand, Dionysius regarded the people at the top of the city wall as air. He walked around as if he was taking a stroll while exchanging views with the people around him from time to time.

“Crotone's walls are ten metres high and are made of large stones. It has moats and abatis outside the city, and with the city's size, they have enough men to defend it. Thus I think it would be challenging to conquer this city!” Phidias, without any scruples, uttered these words that discouraged his allies. After all, even though the Spartans were terrifying in field warfare, they had little success in sieging, so much so that in their previous wars, they had not captured any large cities, and even the small ones, they only captured a few of them. During the Peloponnesian War, even though the allied forces led by Sparta wrecked the Attica peninsula into ruins, they could only stay outside Athens for many years as they never managed to storm the walls of Athens. Thus after winning the war, the first thing they did was get the Athenians to tear down the walls.

“If we could not capture the city of Crotone while the city of Aprustum is narrow and not favourable for the deployment of troops, let alone capture it, Then why are we still leading troops here?! Is it just to surround them?!!” Said Astagoras sarcastically as he was unhappy with the arrogant Spartan.