Chapter 191

“No! I never said that!” the merchant cried, seeing the judge’s face darken. A chorus of angry shouts erupted from the crowd behind him.

“How dare you discriminate against a Lucanian! Have you no fear for your life?”

“Izam is a hero of our League, and you dare to insult his wife! Honorable Judge, we demand you punish this lecher severely!”

The merchant’s heart sank. He had assumed the woman was just a rather pretty Lucanian slave. She had been asking prices for a long time without buying anything, and in a moment of irritation, he had let the words slip. He had never imagined he was offending the wife of a citizen of the Theonian League. Having only just arrived, he was ignorant of the local customs. In other city-states, the wives of citizens mostly stayed at home. A foreign woman haggling in the market was almost certainly a slave, and a man could take liberties with his words, even a touch, with no consequence.

But Theonia was different. Many of its citizens had married Lucanian women, and many Theonian Greek women had married Lucanian preparatory citizens. These people, unburdened by the intricate rituals of the Greeks, were bolder and more open, and their ways were gradually influencing the conservative customs of the original Greek citizens. Furthermore, the League’s revered Archon, Lord Davos, permitted his own wife to appear in public, even to open a bank and restaurants in the market. This had further accelerated the transformation of Theonian society. It was now a common sight to see the wives of citizens in the marketplace.

“Defendant, is the plaintiff’s testimony true?” Protesilaus asked. As the merchant opened his mouth to speak, the judge’s voice boomed again. “Let me remind you: for the crime of discrimination against a foreigner, the punishment is a fine and a caning. But to lie after swearing an oath before the gods is the crime of blasphemy, for which the punishment is the cruel tearing out of the tongue. Think carefully before you speak.”

The merchant trembled, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. After a long, agonizing silence, he finally mumbled, “Most of what she said… is true. But… but I did not know that discriminating against foreigners was a crime!”

“Is that so?” Protesilaus’s expression was grim. “When you rented your stall, did you not familiarize yourself with the Regulations for Commerce in Theonia, as posted by the Market Administration?”

“No…” the merchant began, then remembered the Market Administration’s rule: no one could rent a stall without first acknowledging the regulations. He had no choice but to nod. “I did.”

“In that case, you have knowingly broken the law!” Protesilaus declared. “First, for violating the law against discrimination, you are fined ten drachmae and sentenced to two strokes of the cane, so that you will remember your lesson and not repeat the offense. As for your verbal profanity toward the plaintiff… though you did not act upon your words… do we have a law concerning such matters?” He turned to Phraocleon.

Phraocleon thought for a moment and shook his head.

“It seems I have another matter to bring before the Senate at its next meeting,” Protesilaus muttered to himself. He considered for a moment, then announced, “Regarding the punishment for your verbal assault, I grant the right of judgment to the plaintiff. She will decide your sentence.”

The merchant turned a pleading, trembling gaze to the woman. The young Lucanian did not hesitate. “Let him serve as a guide for the Market Administration,” she said decisively. “Five days of unpaid labor.”

“Excellent! So it shall be!” Protesilaus praised her suggestion. He then turned to the merchant. “Defendant, you may refuse this sentence of five days of labor. But if you do, you will be expelled from the League and forbidden from ever conducting business here again.” His voice was heavy with finality. “Consider your choice carefully.”

For a merchant, profit was more important than pride. His pottery business had been booming in the Thurii market over the past few days, and he had no desire to be exiled over such a minor affair. He accepted the punishment.

The next case was the very opposite. A registered freeman, a stall-owner, had gotten into a conflict with a foreign merchant, insulting and beating him. The facts were clear, the evidence irrefutable, and the verdict should have been simple. But during the trial, the freeman repeatedly denied the assault and kept trying to subtly signal to Protesilaus that he was a confidant of the senator Polyxexis, implying that the judge should dismiss the case.

The young and spirited Protesilaus already disliked Polyxexis, who often flaunted his noble birth in the Senate and occasionally looked down upon the senators who were not from Thurii. Seizing the opportunity, Protesilaus roared, “Insolent defendant! How dare you tarnish the reputation of the honorable Polyxexis! Not only did you assault the plaintiff, your behavior is vile! And you continue to deny the facts, violating the sacred oath you swore! I find you guilty of blasphemy. The sentence is to be carried out immediately!”

The freeman, terrified, began to beg for mercy, but the crowd roared its approval for the judge. In the end, rather than face the brutal punishment of having his tongue torn out, the freeman chose the equivalent penalty of forty strokes of the cane. He was beaten until he was half-dead and carried from the court. The scribe recorded his crimes, ensuring that even if he recovered, the census office would have him expelled from Theonia.

The disputes that arose in the market and port were all minor, and the judgments were swift, unencumbered by the tedious legal procedures, lawyers, and juries of other cities.

Theos watched from the crowd for a time and began to understand. This small court was a powerful demonstration of the Theonian League’s commitment to justice, a guarantee that the rights of all law-abiding people—citizens, slaves, foreigners, and natives alike—would be protected within its territory. For a traveling merchant like himself, this was a profoundly moving revelation.

Merchants like Theos were typically men of standing in their own cities. When they did business abroad, they were often met with envy and hostility from the local citizens, who saw them as outsiders trying to drain the city’s wealth. The city’s leaders, needing the support of their citizens for election, often sided with their own. Among the Greek city-states, Athens was known for having the best attitude toward the foreigners who settled and traded within its walls. Its hyper-developed trade and industry depended on an open-door policy to attract foreign technology, capital, and labor. Athenian law granted foreigners considerable rights; though they could not own land or hold public office, they could lease mines and even hold monopolies on shipping routes.

Athens’s generosity was repaid in kind by its foreign residents. They made charitable donations to repair temples and fund dramatic festivals, and in times of crisis, they stood with the citizens, serving as hoplites or donating weapons, armor, and even triremes to the state.

Now, it seemed, Theonia was following in Athens’s footsteps, and in some ways, was even bolder. The reason for Theos’s current visit was a new law passed by the Theonian Senate: the land between the Saraceno and Coscile rivers was now available to be leased to foreign merchants for industrial use, with a term of twenty years.

The news had caused a sensation among the foreign merchants in Thurii and had quickly spread throughout Magna Graecia. Most merchants who had been to Thurii were optimistic about the League’s commercial prospects. The addition of Laos to the alliance was another powerful incentive; merchants trading in the League could now enter Laos at a preferential rate, opening up trade with Naples, Massalia, Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula, and Mauretania. With the Thurii-Laos road already under construction, and given Theonia’s reputation for quality engineering, the new road would make the transport of goods between the two cities incredibly convenient. The journey would likely take only two days, comparable to the time it took to travel by sea. And the sea route was fraught with peril—pirates and storms could wipe out a lifetime’s work in an instant. Furthermore, the tolls charged by Messina and Rhegium to pass through the strait between them were exorbitant, cutting deep into a merchant’s profits.

Theos had passed by that tract of land on his last visit to Amendolara. Though flat, the ground was hard and stony, unsuitable for agriculture, and thus had not been distributed as lots to the League’s citizens. Aside from a small section used for the Amendolara military camp, most of it lay idle. But for Theos, this barren land held immense value. He intended to bid on a plot and open an armory.

After his profitable first venture, Theos had taken a keen interest in the burgeoning league. He had recognized that Theonia was a state that revered martial strength—the triumph was proof enough of the great honor it bestowed upon its victorious soldiers and commanders. This meant that future wars were inevitable, and the rapidly growing citizenry of the Theonian League would have a great demand for weapons. He knew that the large armory in the Thurii market, which was run by the League to support the families of fallen soldiers and care for the disabled, mostly sold captured equipment. It had the capacity for repairs, but not for producing a full set of hoplite armor from scratch. This was his opportunity.

Corinth was famous throughout Greece for its weapons, and Theos had experience in the trade. He could hire skilled Corinthian blacksmiths and establish a workshop in the League. This would save on shipping costs, and raw materials were readily available, with copper mines in Thurii and iron mines in Lucania. He could produce high-quality, custom-fit armor and weapons for the League’s citizens, or sell them in bulk to the League itself, or even to the natives (Theonia did not restrict the sale of weapons). This was an industry with greater and more stable profits than the grain trade. Having made his decision, he was eager to begin.