“Thurii again! Selfish Thurii! Damnable Thurii! May the goddess of misfortune curse them!” Cornelius hissed through clenched teeth.

To see a man known for his kindness and good nature filled with such hatred was telling. Davos could guess the reason (Archytas had told him), but he feigned curiosity. “Senator Cornelius, I was under the impression that Thurii and Amendolara were allies, yet you seem to despise them.”

“The Thurians coerced us into temporarily abandoning our city to help them defend theirs. They threatened that if the Lucanians besieged Amendolara, they would offer no assistance. At the time, we reasoned that the Lucanian invasions always came from the south, so the north would be safe. We had no choice. We opened our gates and prepared to move our supplies to Thurii. But then… then, completely defenseless, we were attacked by the Lucanians who had daringly floated down the Sinni River¹ and taken us by surprise. For more than six months, we have endured endless suffering. Our temples have been defiled, our women violated, our children have starved to death, and our citizens have been slaughtered…” By this point, tears were streaming down Cornelius’s face. “All of it stems from that one selfish decision made by Thurii, while their own city remains untouched to this day! Every single person from Amendolara hates Thurii more than they hate the Lucanians!”

“Ah…” Davos let out a long sigh, unsure of what to say.

“I heard from your soldiers that retaking Amendolara was your own decision, not an order from Thurii. Is that correct?” Cornelius asked, wiping his tears.

“That’s correct.”

“Good. Then we no longer owe Thurii anything!” Cornelius declared resolutely. “Whatever they paid to hire you, we will pay you double, as long as you stay!”

Davos put on a helpless expression. “What would be the point? Our army has three thousand men. The cost of their food and wages each month is no small sum, and Amendolara is not a wealthy city-state. Besides, even if we accept your employment, we will still have to leave when the contract ends. We are men without a home. We must constantly seek new contracts to earn a living…” Davos’s voice was tinged with sorrow.

His words, however, sparked an idea in Cornelius’s mind. “Without a home…”

“Then stay here,” he blurted out.

As if emboldened by his own words, he repeated, much louder this time, “Yes, all of you, stay here! Become citizens of Amendolara!”

***

Previously, the public square of Amendolara had been used as a barracks by the Lucanians. It was also the only place in the city where the mercenaries had met any real resistance the night before. By this afternoon, the square had been cleaned, though the streaks of blood staining the marble ground were a stark reminder of the battle that had taken place.

All the surviving people of Amendolara, except for the very young children, had gathered in the square. Even women and teenage boys were present.

Standing on a wooden platform in the center of the square were Cornelius and four other respected, surviving citizens. Cornelius looked out at the faces below—nearly the entire population of Amendolara. They were the very old and the very young, and the vast majority were women. Most had not yet recovered their strength and had to be supported by mercenary soldiers and doctors. A fresh wave of grief washed over him. He thought back to just a year ago, when Amendolara had four thousand male citizens alone, and a total population of over ten thousand. Now, all that was left were a thousand pitiful survivors, mostly women, children, and the elderly. They could no longer defend their home, let alone perform the daily labors of planting wheat and herding livestock. The thought solidified his resolve.

“Citizens of Amendolara! Women and children! I, Cornelius, a member of the Senate, have gathered you all in the square today because there is a matter of great importance that we must decide together! More than two hundred years ago, our ancestors left Sybaris to found this city. For two centuries, nourished by the Sisno and Brádano rivers and protected by the mountains of Amendolara, we have lived in peace and prosperity. Even when our mother-city, Sybaris, was destroyed, our lands were never touched by the flames of war. But… since last year, when our citizens followed Thurii to invade the lands of the Lucanians, we…” Cornelius’s voice choked with emotion. In the crowd below, many began to weep openly.

“My wife, refusing to be defiled by the Lucanians, took her own life by smashing her head against a pillar. One of my children fell ill and died. All of you here have suffered the same tragic fate. For two hundred years, Amendolara has known peace, but this one war has nearly sent us the way of our mother-city, Sybaris. As we prayed day and night in the temple for Zeus to save us, he answered our calls and sent us our saviors! They are the mercenaries from Ionia, in Greece—our kinsmen!”

Cornelius pointed to the back of the crowd. Davos, his officers, and Archytas, who was present as a witness, were all standing there in civilian clothes, waiting quietly.

“They defeated the savage Lucanians, rescued us from our suffering, and have cared for us with great warmth! To be honest, I have seen many mercenaries in my time, but they are completely different. They are like family!” Cornelius’s words earned nods of agreement from many in the crowd, especially from the women.

“But now, they are about to leave us! They are leaving Magna Graecia!” As soon as he said this, a wave of panic spread through the crowd.

“If they leave, what will we do? Who will guarantee Amendolara’s safety? Thurii?” Cornelius paused for a moment, and the square erupted in a chorus of curses.

“No! We would rather be destroyed by the Lucanians than be deceived by the Thurians again!”

“The selfish Thurians are never to be allowed in Amendolara again!”

***

Amid the people’s angry shouts, Cornelius seized the moment and raised his voice. “This painful lesson has taught us that we can only rely on ourselves to protect our own home! But Amendolara is now incredibly weak. So, what do we do?” Cornelius looked out at the crowd, repeating the question to make them think deeply.

“The magistrates of Amendolara are both dead. I, Cornelius, as a member of the Senate, now propose an important motion and call for a citizens’ assembly to vote on its passage. Because the number of our male citizens is now too small, and because this matter concerns the interests of every single person in Amendolara, I have made a special request that all Amendolarans be allowed to participate in this vote.”

Before the crowd could even react, the four other men on the platform voiced their support for his proposal.

The women in the crowd, who formed the majority, were excited by the prospect of casting a vote for the first time in their lives. Any opposition was quickly drowned out.

“I have heard that this Cornelius of Amendolara, while a decent man, is not known for having strong political opinions. I never expected he would make such a stunning move today,” Archytas remarked to Davos, his tone a mix of surprise and suspicion. To allow women to vote on a matter of state was unheard of in the Greek world of their time. Perhaps it had only happened in the distant past; legend held that the votes of women had been the deciding factor in making Athena the patron goddess of Athens.⁴

Davos just smiled and said nothing. Of course, letting the women vote had been his idea. Compared to men, who were more concerned with practical interests, women were more driven by emotion and had a greater desire for the protection of the strong. Faced with the choice of what to do about the mercenary soldiers who had saved them and treated them with kindness, their decision was a foregone conclusion.

“Since we all agree on this procedure, then my proposal is this—” Cornelius’s gaze swept toward Davos and his men in the distance, “—that we accept our benefactors, the mercenary soldiers who saved Amendolara, as citizens of our city! Then we will never have to worry about our city’s safety again!”

The crowd erupted in a stunned clamor. After all, it was not an easy thing for a freeman to become a citizen of a Greek city-state, let alone to grant citizenship to over three thousand people at once. It was an extremely rare occurrence.

But after a moment of commotion, a woman was the first to raise her right arm and shout, “I agree!”

Immediately, cries of “I agree!” echoed from every corner of the square.