Chapter 112

Davos patiently explained, “Which is better: to compel them to work with a cudgel, or to have them work willingly?”

“The latter, of course.”

“More importantly, my goal is not for them to remain slaves, but for them to become citizens of Amendolara. Only in this way can we continuously grow our strength. And think of this: one day, when the native tribes of Lucania are trembling before our shields and spears, what will they think when they see soldiers in our ranks who have the same faces as them, who speak the same language, yet who wear Greek armor, eat Greek food, and converse freely with Greeks as equals?”

Axistes pondered this for a moment. “They might surrender,” he said, his voice uncertain.

“Precisely. Bagulos and his people will be an example to all other Lucanians, a living testament that surrender to us does not mean abuse, but the beginning of a better life. Think of the Persian way of dealing with foreign peoples. We will do it better, because we will treat them with greater equality and welcome them more generously as our own citizens, allowing them to share the same rights as us. This is the only way to eliminate the gulf between us. It is the only way for Amendolara to rapidly become powerful.” Davos spoke with a passionate sincerity. He did not wish to be a solitary traveler on his journey through this era. He wanted to spread his political philosophy to those around him, to inspire them, and to shatter the narrow-minded parochialism of the Greek world.

Axistes was utterly convinced. “Lord Archon, your foresight is truly profound.”

“Axistes,” Davos said with a playful grin, “I hear you did not choose a wife at the gathering. Are you interested in a Lucanian woman, perhaps? I could ask Bagulos if he has any sisters. You could become his kinsman.”

Axistes immediately pictured Bagulos’s fierce visage and shook his head vigorously.

“I am serious,” Davos said, his tone now a mixture of jest and earnestness. “If you were to marry a Lucanian, and if one day we were to conquer their lands, I might just appoint you Governor (Satrap) of the entire region.”

Governor? The word sparked in Axistes’s mind. He recalled the awe-inspiring presence of the Persian satrap, Tissaphernes, in Asia Minor. The ambition of it stirred something in him. He did not stop to consider that, in the entire Mediterranean world, the title of “Governor” was unique to the Persian Empire, an office that could only be bestowed by its king.

Watching Axistes’s departing figure, Davos mused to himself, Perhaps I should create a junior office under the Archon—a Scribe, or Secretary. It would give Axistes a formal position and allow me to personally cultivate a cadre of like-minded young men who will one day become my trusted aides in governing this city-state.

Just as he was lost in thought, Crystoia entered. “Olivas is here,” she announced.

Davos was puzzled. What could that fellow want at this late hour?

Olivas’s booming voice preceded him. “Lord Archon, your new estate is enormous! If I didn’t have a guide, I’d surely get lost… Oh, this marble statue is exquisite! The work of a great master, no doubt. Look at the definition of these muscles…” He rambled on, talking about anything and everything.

Davos fixed him with a stare. “If you don’t get to the point, I’m going to throw you out.”

“No, no! I truly need your help!” Olivas said hastily, his face a mask of desperation. “Lord Archon, you must help me with this!”

“What is it? Spit it out!” Davos feigned impatience, though his interest was now thoroughly piqued.

Olivas suddenly became sheepish. “I… I would like to ask you… to help me… to ask for… Marigi’s…” he stammered in a low voice.

“Ask for what?” Davos genuinely had not heard him clearly.

Olivas took a deep breath and shouted, “I have fallen in love with Marigi’s daughter, Mitra, and I want you to ask him for her hand in marriage on my behalf!”

Now Davos understood. So the jokes Matonis and the others had been making were true after all. He tried to recall what Marigi’s daughter looked like but could only summon a vague impression of a petite and shy young woman.

“You may like her, but does she like you?” This was the first question that needed to be settled.

“Of course she wants to be with me!” Olivas declared with absolute confidence.

“Does Marigi know of this?”

“He does not. However, Mitra’s mother is very supportive of our association. But she cannot make the final decision.”

Of course she can’t, Davos thought. In this era, whether Greek or Persian, the man was the master of the house. In the past, given Olivas’s roguish tendencies, Davos would not have even considered the matter. But since that incident, he truly had changed, not only ceasing his own predation but actively discouraging it in others. One man was a talent he considered essential to his plans; the other had saved his life. Davos was more than happy to see them joined. “I will speak to Marigi on your behalf and do my best to bring you two together. But in the end, it will depend on your own conduct.”

Before he had even finished, Olivas leaped into the air. “Wonderful! That’s wonderful! Davos, you are a truly good man!” In his excitement, he threw his arms around Davos in a crushing hug.

Watching Olivas sing and dance his way out of the courtyard, Davos couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘I’ve just been given a ‘good person card.’’

***

The next morning, the unmarried new citizens staged a protest before the Senate House, demanding a solution to their spousal predicament and formally suggesting that they would be willing to take Lucanian women as wives.

The Senate convened an emergency session. With the sound of continuous chanting from the protestors outside, the senators, led by the Princeps Senatus Davos, “reluctantly” passed a resolution. Davos and the new citizen senators were, of course, merely acting out their parts in a well-rehearsed play. The resolution approved the marriage of new citizens to the women of their former enemies.

At the same time, the Senate passed another decree: all Lucanian captives were to be made public slaves, to labor without compensation until death. However, no citizen of Amendolara was permitted to harm these slaves, for they were now the property, and thus the wealth, of the city-state.

Immediately thereafter, Davos introduced another proposal.

Seeing Davos rise to speak again, Cornelius tensed instinctively. The young Archon’s proposals had repeatedly shattered the traditions of Amendolara, leaving Cornelius in a state of mild spiritual depression. This time, however, the proposal seemed relatively conventional. Before his attack on the Lucanian confederacy, Davos had promised freedom to the slaves who fought with him. After the victory, Thurii had taken back the thousand-odd slaves they had loaned him, along with Davos’s request that they honor his promise. But nearly three hundred slaves remained, men and women the mercenaries had acquired through plunder in Persia, who had shared in their countless battles and hardships. In Davos’s own words, “These slaves are our own people.”

The proposal to grant them their freedom passed unanimously among the twenty-odd senators.

However, Davos’s next proposal ignited a fresh controversy: that these newly manumitted slaves—these freedmen—should be allowed to apply for citizenship in Amendolara.

Stromboli was the first on his feet, his voice ringing with vehement opposition. “There is no precedent for this in Amendolara! To make slaves into citizens! If we do this, we shall become the laughingstock of Magna Graecia!” Several of the other old citizen senators voiced their agreement.

Antonios then rose to rebut him. “Gentlemen, please note that, following the passage of the previous bill, these people are no longer slaves. They are freedmen. Every city-state has a precedent for accepting freedmen as citizens. And Amendolara, more than any other, has shown its tolerance by welcoming us, a band of outsiders, and even a Persian, into its citizenry! Why can we not extend this same tolerance to these freedmen? Furthermore, we are already deliberating the Immigration Law proposed by Lord Davos. Is it not fitting that these people, who are now free and who have contributed and sacrificed for Amendolara, should be the first beneficiaries of that very law?”

The new citizens roared their assent, leaving the old citizens momentarily speechless.

Amyntas stood, recounting the story of how a slave had sacrificed his own life to save him during a battle in Persia. “They are not slaves!” he boomed. “They are our brothers! We must repay them!”

Herpos then gave a brief but moving account of how the slaves in the medical corps had worked day and night alongside the physicians to save the wounded.

Mersis followed, describing in exaggerated terms how the slaves under his command had managed finances and distributed supplies with flawless speed and accuracy, providing the essential support for the army’s victories. “They are the finest administrators!” he declared proudly.

Though there were only twenty-one men in the chamber, the atmosphere grew hotter and hotter. Davos did not even need to speak. The proposal was passed. After some debate, the final resolution was drafted: once their application for citizenship was confirmed, the freedmen would enter a two-year probationary period. During this time, they must reside within the territory of Amendolara, learn to speak Greek, familiarize themselves with the city’s laws, and maintain a clean record. At the end of the two years, upon payment of a fee of two hundred Drachmas to the state, they would be granted the status of probationary citizens. Should they voluntarily participate in a major state undertaking, such as a war, their probationary period could be shortened based on their merit.

The senators in the chamber that day did not realize the profound, long-term impact that this resolution, together with the Davos Immigration Law, would have on the future of the Hellenic world. The cases of Marigi the Persian and these three hundred former slaves becoming citizens would serve as crucial legal precedents for the integration of foreigners and the manumission of slaves in all the city-states that would one day fall under Davos’s rule.