Chapter 139

“And so what?!” Melanthius shot him a sideways glance, his face, already flushed from the wine, now colored with defiance. “Where he and I were born was decided by fate. And so too was his failure destined from the start!”

He raised his voice again, demanding, “Thurii and Amendolara are allies. I heard that as my army was approaching Thurii, Amendolara promised to send reinforcements. Is this true?”

“It is,” Anxitanos confirmed, but he subtly embellished the truth, his tone heavy with implication. “The envoy from Amendolara said that if they were given just a few days to assemble their troops, Thurii would certainly be able to hold out once their reinforcements arrived.” He watched as Melanthius’s face grew even redder.

Melanthius turned to his deputy, Timaras. “Tomorrow, you will send a man to Amendolara and demand to know why they wish to be an enemy of Croton. Tell them to immediately break their treaty with Thurii and ally with us!”

Timaras hesitated for a moment. “But Amendolara is an ally of Tarentum.”

“Correct. It is an ally of Tarentum, and it was also able to ally with Thurii. Why, then, can it not ally with us?” Melanthius retorted forcefully.

“Very well,” Timaras reluctantly agreed.

Melanthius swirled the wine in his cup, his eyes flashing. Davos, what will you do?

***

News of Croton’s conquest of Thurii spread rapidly throughout Magna Graecia, and the fallen city instantly became the focus of all attention.

The city-states of Tarentum, Locri, and Rhegium all watched the developments with keen interest. Even Syracuse in Sicily, which was currently mustering troops and supplies for an impending invasion of Carthage, turned its gaze toward the Italian mainland. Locri, after all, was an ally of Syracuse; the tyrant Dionysius had even married Doris, the sister of Demodocus, the current strategos protos of Locri. And since Locri and Croton were bitter enemies, the rise of an even more powerful Croton was something neither Locri nor Syracuse wished to see. More than that, it had implications for a much grander strategic plan that was forming in Dionysius’s mind.

***

A Crotoniate envoy arrived in Amendolara bearing Melanthius’s command to submit, and the political atmosphere in the city grew tense.

In the Senate, a fierce debate erupted.

Cornelius, Raphias, and Stromboli argued that Croton, riding the momentum of a great victory, was far too powerful. Amendolara, having just recovered from its own war, could not possibly hope to resist. To prevent their lands from being ravaged once more, they should compromise for the time being and agree to Croton’s demands.

Scombras, Tritodemus, and Protesilaus took a harder line, proposing that they stall for time while requesting that Tarentum put pressure on Croton, and then decide their course of action based on how the situation developed.

The new citizen senators, almost to a man, were of the hardline faction. They had been enraged by the arrogant, demanding behavior of the Crotoniate envoy since the moment he had entered the city. They insisted that Amendolara must not yield to Croton’s threats. If Croton dared to invade, they would be taught a harsh lesson about Amendolara’s strength.

Davos had anticipated such an event ever since Croton had taken Thurii. As a leader whose authority rested on military prestige, who had become the archon of life of Amendolara through military might, he could not show the slightest hint of weakness or compromise, for to do so would be to shake the very foundations of his power. And so, he declared with unwavering resolve, “Amendolara has already made its decision, and we will stand by it! We will not shake Tarentum’s trust in us! And we will not allow the people of Magna Graecia to think that Amendolara is a city-state that bows to the strong and abandons its principles for profit!”

Davos’s powerful words brought the Senate meeting to a close.

When the Crotoniate envoy received Amendolara’s reply, he was stunned for a moment, then snarled, “Are you not afraid of suffering the same fate as Thurii?”

“You are welcome to try,” Davos answered coldly.

***

The disgruntled envoy returned to Melanthius with Davos’s letter: “To the honored commander of Croton, the people of Amendolara stand in awe of the victory you have achieved. However, to abide by the treaties we have signed in the names of the gods is a tradition passed down in Amendolara for a hundred years. We hope you can understand.”

Melanthius read the letter and laughed with rage. He tore it to pieces. “This archon of Amendolara has some courage… Ha! A man who came from nothing but a band of mercenaries actually dares to speak of honoring promises?”

He paced back and forth in the hall for a few moments, his mind made up. “It seems we must teach this disobedient little state a lesson. Timaras, assemble eight thousand men. We are taking a trip to Amendolara.”

“But Tarentum—” Timaras protested anxiously.

Melanthius cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Relax. I will not act rashly.”

***

Soon after, the Crotoniate army marched out of Thurii and headed north.

Amendolara’s mounted scouts immediately reported their advance. When the news spread, a palpable tension fell over the city’s populace.

Cornelius, Raphias, and the others once again implored Davos to submit to Croton for the time being and join their alliance.

Davos rebuffed them with a single sentence: “I am not in the habit of suing for peace with a knife at my throat.”

The new citizen senators, their fighting spirit ablaze, clamored to mobilize the army and deliver a crushing blow to the arrogant Crotoniates, but Davos forcefully suppressed their calls for battle.

He issued his orders: “All personnel are to withdraw inside the city walls and prepare for defense!”

Bound by his authority, the officers had no choice but to obey.

***

The Senate of Tarentum was also closely monitoring the Crotoniate army’s movements. They received the news slightly later than Amendolara, and the consuls immediately called an emergency session with the senators.

The senators were furious. For Croton to ignore the fact that Amendolara was an ally of Tarentum and brazenly invade its territory was a direct affront to Tarentum itself. They had to lodge a severe protest.

But when it came to the question of whether Tarentum should go to war if fighting broke out, most of the senators urged caution. Tarentum and Croton were both major powers in Magna Graecia, each with its own network of allies. A war between them would not be resolved in a few battles.

In the Senate, Archytas volunteered to go and speak with the Crotoniate commander, Melanthius, and his request was approved. At the same time, Tarentum dispatched another envoy by ship to Croton’s capital, a journey that, with a favorable wind, would take only half a day.

While the Tarentine Senate was still debating, Melanthius had already led his army across the Savicello River. Two hours later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain where Amendolara was situated. He gazed up at the small city. The walls were lined with fully armed soldiers. The morning sun, rising in the east, reflected off their armor, creating a wall of blinding light that made it difficult to look at them directly. He couldn’t help but remark, “Amendolara’s soldiers have the right look. If I were to actually attack them this morning, the glare alone would cause my men no small amount of trouble.”

He ordered his troops to form up in a phalanx. The battle line, stretching for more than half a kilometer, advanced slowly toward the city walls. The soldiers beat their shields and let out thunderous war cries, the sound shaking the very earth.

But on the walls of Amendolara, the soldiers, under the strict command of their officers, remained utterly silent.

Alcinous couldn’t hold back. “Squad Leader,” he whispered, “the Crotoniates are too arrogant! We should at least shout back, give them something in return!”

“Shut your mouth,” his squad leader, Ctippus, hissed. “Those are the Archon’s orders. Do you want to be charged with insubordination?”

At the mention of military discipline, Alcinous immediately fell silent.

“Just remember this,” Ctippus added. “As long as the Crotoniates don’t attack, we’ll let them have their little show. But if they dare to attack, heh heh…”

“Understood!” Alcinous tightened his grip on his spear. Even though the enemy force below seemed impossibly vast, a part of him was actually hoping they would attack, so that he could finally put all his hard months of training to use.

Seeing no reaction from the Amendolarans, Melanthius halted his army’s advance. He sent a messenger to the base of the wall to call for a meeting with Archon Davos. But once again, there was no response from the city.

Melanthius assumed that Davos was a coward, too afraid to face him. He had his soldiers shout insults at the walls.

“Davos is a coward who doesn’t dare to face the army of Croton!”

“The men of Amendolara are so scared they can’t even breathe!”

The new recruits, their faces flushed with anger, began to grumble, but they were quickly reprimanded by the veterans. “Cowardice is proven in battle, not with words. As for the Archon, while he was leading us to victory against the Persians time and again, these Crotoniates were probably still enjoying the cheers of the crowd in some stadium.”

In truth, the veterans were just as incensed, but their experience had taught them to obey Davos’s commands without question and not to waste energy on pointless shouting matches.

The Crotoniate soldiers shouted until their throats were hoarse, but the Amendolarans remained silent.

Melanthius grew bored of the spectacle. Finally, he gave the order: “Burn all of these buildings to the ground! As a warning to Amendolara!”

The persistent silence from the city had been a humiliation, and Melanthius’s pride demanded retribution. At his command, the nearly completed warehouses and inns at the foot of the mountain were set ablaze. The fruits of months of Amendolaran labor were consumed in a roaring inferno.

The towering flames cast a red glow on the faces of the countless soldiers on the walls. Their eyes were wide, their gazes fixed in silent fury as they watched the Crotoniate army swagger away.

***

When news of the attack reached the Senate, the hall erupted in anger.

Only Davos remained calm. He listened intently as Axistes gave a detailed account of the Crotoniate army’s behavior at the city walls, using the information to analyze Melanthius’s personality and psychology, and comparing it with what he already knew.

“By doing this, are the Crotoniates declaring war on us?” Raphias asked, shocked.

“They invaded our territory and burned our property,” Philesius replied grimly. “This is a declaration of war.”