“It seems that Davos, blessed by the gods, has created another miracle!” Archytas exclaimed with sincere admiration. There was no jealousy in his eyes, only a deep curiosity. “I want to know how he managed to defeat the Crotoniates!”

Marigi gave them a brief account of the battle, making sure to emphasize that it was a night raid and that the Crotoniates had been overconfident and unprepared—not only had they failed to properly fortify their camp, but they had also been drunk. He hoped this context would lessen their astonishment.

But the senators of Tarentum were still shaken by Davos’s military genius. It was now clear that the young archon’s previous victory over the Lucanians had not been a fluke, nor had it been primarily due to Tarentum’s reinforcements.

The Tarentine senators began to treat the envoys from Amendolara with a newfound gravity.

“Men of Amendolara,” said Eumachus, one of the consuls, “now that you have won your victory, what is your purpose in coming to Tarentum? Is it to boast of your achievements?”

“Amendolara will always be filled with respect for Tarentum, the city that once saved us! We would never dare to have such a thought,” Marigi replied, bowing respectfully. “I have come today because the homeless people of Thurii have joined with Amendolara to form an alliance. Therefore, it is necessary to revise our treaty with Tarentum.”

“What did you say?!” The Senate erupted in an uproar. “The Thurians have formed an alliance with you? What kind of alliance?”

“Don’t tell me Amendolara has forcibly occupied the lands of Thurii,” one senator boomed, “just as that mercenary leader forcibly occupied Amendolara!”

“I protest that statement!” Marigi shot back, his voice ringing with anger. “What you have said is an insult not only to our archon, but to all of Amendolara! I find it hard to believe such words could come from the mouth of our closest ally!”

“Lord Diomilas, what you have said is not right,” Archytas intervened, rising to his feet to defend them. “I was present on the day of the citizen assembly in Amendolara. I witnessed with my own eyes the passion with which the people of Amendolara invited the mercenaries to become their fellow citizens.”

Despite Archytas’s endorsement, Diomilas was unyielding. “If it was not for Amendolara’s coercion,” he retorted, “why would the people of Thurii choose to ally with the weak and poor Amendolara, instead of the rich and powerful Tarentum?”

“Diomilas is right! If not for the threat of military force, the Thurians would certainly have chosen Tarentum!” several other senators chimed in.

The Tarentines are far too pleased with themselves, Marigi thought with a private sneer. He was about to launch into a rebuttal when Anxitanos gently restrained him. The Thurian stood up and spoke in a calm, moderate tone.

“Honored senators of Tarentum, my name is Anxitanos. I was once a general of Thurii and have visited your city many times. Some of you may know me, such as Lord Eumachus and Lord Dexithemis.”

The senators he had named gave slight, reluctant nods.

“As a Thurian, I swear by Apollo that Amendolara used no force to threaten us. It was quite the opposite. When the city of Thurii was being overrun by Croton, when our people believed they had been abandoned by the gods and had given up all resistance, it was only the small city of Amendolara that refused to bow to the might of Croton! Even with a great army at their gates, they stood by their treaty with Thurii! When our city was burned, when our people had lost their homes and were threatened by injury and starvation, it was the people of Amendolara who came to our aid in our time of need, and helped us selflessly! As the brutal Crotoniates committed a crime unheard of in the history of the Hellenes—the burning of a city—and made off with everything our people needed to survive, not a single city-state in Magna Graecia stepped forward to uphold justice. Only the small city of Amendolara dared to strike out, to face the powerful army of Croton—our enemy—and to win revenge for the people of Thurii!

“What other city-state has done for Thurii what Amendolara has done? The people of Thurii see the Amendolarans as the heroes who saved them, as their own kin. That is why, from the bottom of their hearts, they are willing to share a archon with the people of Amendolara, to share a Senate, to share the rights and duties of citizenship, just like brothers in a family, without distinction between you and me. This was entirely the natural choice of the people of Thurii!”

After Anxitanos’s passionate speech, the Senate of Tarentum fell silent. Some of them even felt a sense of shame.

After a long moment, Archon Eumachus broke the silence, his voice cold. “Now that Amendolara and Thurii have become an alliance, your strength is far greater than before. The prestige of Amendolara alone is enough to deter other city-states from offending you. Is there any meaning in discussing an alliance with Tarentum now?”

Marigi put on a sincere expression. “Before I departed, Lord Davos repeatedly reminded me of this: ‘Tarentum extended a hand to Amendolara in its darkest hour. They are our great benefactor. No matter how Amendolara may change in the future, our gratitude toward Tarentum will never change. I hope to have a long and friendly alliance with Tarentum, so that one day we may have the chance to repay this kindness.’”

The Senate fell silent once more.

The other senate, Dexithemis, stood up. “I will now ask the two envoys from Amendolara and Thurii to withdraw temporarily, so that we may discuss this matter of an alliance.”

***

“Gentlemen,” Diomilas said once the envoys were gone, voicing his concern, “the archon of Amendolara, Davos, is said to be a very young man. The young are often full of energy and ambition. Less than a year ago, he was a mere mercenary leader. Now, he is the archon of life of two cities. This rate of advancement and expansion is very similar to that of a certain man in Syracuse. For that reason, I do not entirely trust him. I fear that if Tarentum allies with them today, one day they will turn their spears on us.”

Diomilas’s words were met with a burst of laughter. “Diomilas, you are too timid! Amendolara has only three or four thousand citizens, and Thurii has but a few thousand survivors. Their total population is less than ten thousand. Should Tarentum be afraid of them? Are you truly a man of Tarentum?!”

“It is a question of whether they could even survive the wrath of Tarentum! Would they have time to think of anything else?”

Amid the senators’ mockery, Diomilas sneered. “Gentlemen, when Thurii was first founded, our ancestors in this very Senate laughed just as you are laughing today. And what was the result? We were defeated by the Thurians twice in succession! It seems that despite our past losses, we have learned no lessons.”

His words gave some of the senators pause, while others grew irritated. “The original Thurii had the full backing of Athens!” one retorted. “Otherwise, we would have been the final victors! The present-day Amendolara and Thurii cannot even be compared to the Thurii of old. Diomilas, if Tarentum is to worry about such trivial matters, what are we doing here? We might as well pack up and emigrate!”

“I am reminding everyone that Tarentum must be wary of Amendolara,” Diomilas patiently explained. “With a archon of such terrifying military talent, and having now merged with Thurii, it could very well develop into a major power in northern Magna Graecia and cause trouble for us in the future. To prevent that from happening, we should not support it. On the contrary, we should intentionally restrict its development.”

Archytas immediately stood up. “If Lord Diomilas is so afraid of Amendolara,” he declared, “then that is all the more reason to ally with them! Davos has always been a man who honors his commitments. When he was a mercenary hired by Thurii, he remained to fight even when they were facing a disastrous defeat and the threat of encirclement, and he turned that defeat into a victory. When the great army of Croton was at Amendolara’s gates, he did not abandon his treaty with Thurii. This proves that if we ally with the new alliance, not only will its archon of life, Davos, not harm Tarentum, but if the day comes when Tarentum is in trouble, they will surely come to our aid!”

Just then, Dexithemis spoke, his voice deep and serious. “Archytas is right. Honored senators, do not forget what the greatest threat to Tarentum is. It is not Amendolara, nor is it Thurii. It is the Messapians, who surround us! The Messapians were already difficult to deal with, and then the damned Athenians taught them hoplite tactics and how to make armor. Now, they grow more difficult to handle with each passing year. Look at how many of our citizens they kill, how many of our farms they destroy, every year! Our roots and our temples are here, not in Amendolara, not in Thurii! Tarentum is but a single city, while the Messapians occupy most of Apulia. If we allow them to continue to develop like this, I fear that one day the people of Tarentum will lose all the land outside our walls and be trapped in our city. That is the real reason we have been advocating for a defensive alliance of Magna Graecia these past few years. The union of Amendolara and Thurii is a good thing! When we face difficulties in the future, they can provide us with greater assistance! So, why should we not ally with them?”

A long silence fell over the senators. The expressions on most of their faces were grave.

In the end, the proposal to form an alliance with the Thurian-Amendolaran Alliance was passed. During the drafting of the treaty, although Tarentum elevated the new alliance to the status of a more equal partner, they still insisted on a clause: in any future joint military operations, Tarentum would have supreme command.

Marigi and Anxitanos did not object, and the new treaty of alliance was made.