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For a long time, the people nourished by the prosperous trade and fertile land of Taranto, now that they felt the cruelty of war, they no longer have the ambition to compete with Theonia, and the only thing they hope now is that no more loved ones in their own homes would be sacrificed.

At the strong demand of the citizens, the Council hastily organised an ecclesia. After a heated debate, they finally decided to use the victory of the battle to offer a truce with the Messapians.

In order to prevent the resistance of the radical archon – Diaomilas, the ecclesia started the election of the next archon in advance. Umakas was still elected while Disitimas was once again become the archon, with the mission of going to Messapi and complete the peace negotiation. 

As for Diaomilas, the Tarantines are not as radical as the Crotonians and did not demand a trial, but his return to power in Taranto would be fraught with difficulties.

While Disitimas was on his way to the Tarantine camp, Davos was writing a reply to the Senate of Theonia, ‘Esteemed statesmen, after leading the army to Taranto, we had fought with 30,000 Messapi-Peuceti troops in the Anlen Hills yesterday and won, even though our soldiers only suffered few casualties, the Tarantines suffered heavy casualties…’

Judging from the results of the battle, the decline of Taranto is inevitable. Therefore, the archon of Heraclea, Teriphias, took the initiative to express his intention to join the Theonia Alliance, and the archon of Metapontum, Taudeles, is wavering.

Statesmen, you may not have realised it, but Theonia Union is no longer the weak and small city-state that had been invaded by powerful city-states in the past and has now become the most powerful force in South Italia! Since Theonia has now become the hegemon of South Italia and become a concern to other city-states, we must therefore change our cautious and conservative manner and show the vigour of a powerful union. Only in this way can the city-states of South Italia unite around Theonia and defend the safety of Theonia, and Theonia will, in turn, protect the peace and stability of all Greek city-states in South Italia. And protecting the lives of every Greek should be what the Senate of Theonia should strive to achieve!

Siro, a Greek tribe living among foreign race, had come to us to ask for help in their time of crisis, which is a test to us. Rejecting them would cast doubts on our allies and on the city-states that are watching, but if we were to accept it, it will inspire encouragement to the city-states that have expectations to Theonia because Theonia has lent a helping hand on even a small tribe like Siro that we would even go to war with the Bruttii. And it would make them think that Theonia would give all their can to help other city-states once they were in danger!

In addition, even if we were to go to war with the Bruttians due to defending the Siro tribe, we don’t have to regret it because a war between Theonia and the Brutti is inevitable! The reason why the Siro tribe asked for our help because Consentia is uniting the Bruttian tribes to form a more powerful and terrifying Bruttian Tribal Union, just like the former Lucanian Tribal Coalition. As we all know, the Brutti Region’s land is barren and unproductive. Hence, the Bruttians would often cross the mountains and plunder the Greek city-states to obtain goods and population. And now, with the formation of a unified Bruttian Tribal Union, they are bound to expand outwards to achieve greater development of their race!

But look around Brutti; they are either surrounded by territories of Theonia or adjacent to our allies. Brutti is like a beast lying beside Theonia, so do we tame it before it could grow up? Or are we going to fight it once it is all grown up? The answer is undoubtedly the former!

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

Davos then gave the letter to Marigi.

After seeing him off, Tolmides came in and told Davos in detail about the investigation regarding the soldiers assaulting a man.

Davos became moved after discovering that the soldiers had violated the military law because of him as he had not even expected it.

He murmured, “Olivos…” and had difficulty deciding.

Tolmides took the opportunity to convince him, “Milord, it is because the Tarantine man insulted our soldiers…and you, that made Olivos and the others angry that they have assaulted him. I think they are not the ones at fault in this matter. And-”

Davos raise his head to look at him, and Tolmides immediately shut his mouth.

“Yes, for my sake…” Davos sighed and decided in his heart, “Go and tell Kapus and Drakos to leave half of his men to be stationed in the camp and lead the rest of the soldiers to the threshing floor in the middle of the village and then call the military judge.”

“Milord!” After hearing this, Tolmides wanted to convince him again.

With a wave of his hand, Davos did not allow him to say more, “Go and carry out my order.”

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

“Brothers!” Standing on a high haystack, facing several thousand Theonian soldiers, Davos exclaimed, “In order to fulfil Theonia’s agreement with Taranto, you have gone to great lengths and came to this unfamiliar land, fought bravely and defeated the fierce and cunning Messapians and Peucetians. I, and the Senate and all the people of Theonia, thank you!”

The soldiers puffer their chests out with pride.

After a long pause, Davos continued, “But an incident had happened, a few of our brothers had beaten up a theatre owner of Taranto. At that time…”

The soldiers pricked up their ears and listened carefully, and although the military law restricts them and could not move about, their eyes darted around, all guessing who had done it.

“Although it is the other party that first provoke, the Theonian military law is not a decoration. If you hit someone, you will be punished.” Davos then shouted with a serious expression, “Judge!”

The military judge besides Davos exclaimed, “According to the Theonian Military Law, soldiers who oppress or assault the people of allied cities during a war will get punished with a minimum of 20 military sticks, depending on the severity of the situation. However, because of the other party’s repeated provocation and malicious words, forcing the soldiers that are present to retaliate angrily…after consulting with the grand legatus, I have decided on the punishment – each offending soldiers will receive ten military sticks as punishment!”

The soldiers were relieved as this was a light punishment for them, who often received it during military training.

“Olivos, come out.” The judge continued.

When Olivos came out of the rank, there was a small commotion among the soldiers, as they had not expected that a senior centurion had taken part in it.

Leotychides was also quite surprised, as he had not expected that the Theonians, in order to maintain military discipline, would punish a senior centurion without hesitation just because they have assaulted a citizen of an allied city! In his memory, the equally disciplined Spartan army could not do the same, as they are only disciplined during wartime. But in peacetime, especially on the land of allies, the soldiers did not have strict restrictions on their actions and therefore ran amok, which causes great grievance to the local people, such as Corinth, Megara, and so on. Leotychides as the son of Agis, the Spartan king, had not received princely treatment, and he had also taken part in many battles as a soldier, so he had a better understanding of the Spartan army.

Olivos walked to the front calmly, as he was already prepared to be punished after assaulting someone.

After the judge called out the name of the offenders, Olivos saw Davos on the haystack cast his gaze on him, and he then heard him say out loud, “Besides, there is another person who needs to be punished by the military law, and that’s ME!”

After making this statement, the whole army went into an uproar.

Kapus, Drakos, Antonios, Alexius, Amintas and other high ranking officers were all shocked from hearing this, and for a moment, they forgot to restrain the soldiers. With the reminder of Davos, they manage to restore order in the ranks after great difficulty. 

“Why am I also needed to be punished?” Davos pointed to the offenders and said in a sincere tone, “Olivos, as a senior centurion, does he not know that assaulting someone will violate the military law?! Do our other brothers not know the pain of being beaten up with a military stick?! Of course, they do. No one in the legion was unfamiliar with the Theonian military law. But why did our brothers of the first legion did not have such problems in Crotone, in Scylletium, in Caulonia, but made mistakes here in Taranto, across the Gulf?! Because the Tarantines were mainly insulting me, and Olivos and the others became angry in order to defend my prestige as the commander of this army! As the archon of Theonia and your commander, I led you to help Taranto, but I did not win the respect of the Tarantines for you and allowed them to belittle and insult us! This is my dereliction of duty, my responsibility! Since they have to be punished, then you have to punish me first, or else-” Davos pounded his chest, “I won’t feel good here, and I can’t forgive myself, so do not dissuade me! I will accept the punishment of ten military sticks together with these brothers! Drakos shall supervise the punishment, and no trickery shall be allowed!”

As Davos finished speaking, silence shrouded the threshing floor.

Each soldier gazes at their grand legatus with an excited expression and their chests rising and falling sharply.

Olivos only felt heat in his eyes as tears flow down his cheeks. He couldn’t stop himself from waving his arms and shout, “All hail Davos!”

Olivos took the lead, and a tremendous clamour spread over the whole village, with “Theonia win!” praise and “Damn Taranto!” swearing mixed in.

Davos, looking at everything calmly, reminded the equally excited judge, “Prepare the punishment.”

With that, he went down the haystack and stood next to Olivos.

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

As soon as Disitimas arrived at Taranto’s camp, he immediately summoned the citizens. First of all, he announced the resolution of the ecclesia, dismissing Diaomilas from his archonship and having his guards “escort” him back to the city, and then discussed with Umakas the truce with the Messapians.

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