Chapter 99

Gazing at the forest of raised right arms before him, Archytas spoke, his voice a mixture of happiness and a faint trace of regret. “Davos, your wish has been fulfilled. Congratulations.”

Davos let out a long breath of relief. “Thank you,” he said with sincerity. “And I sincerely hope that the Tarentine Senate will agree to my proposal as well, so that we can truly become allies.”

“A total of one thousand three hundred and eighty-two people participated in the vote on this motion. One thousand and seventy-six voted in favor, and three hundred and six voted against. The motion is passed!” After hearing the results, Cornelius’s heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions, but they quickly gave way to a sense of release. He summoned all his strength and roared, “I declare that from this moment forward, all soldiers of the mercenary army are citizens of Amendolara!”

The instant the words left his mouth, the soldiers surrounding Davos erupted in thunderous cheers. The wildly excited officers embraced him again and again, and the phrase he heard over and over was, “General, we have a home!”

Hearing those words, Davos felt a sense of dislocation. Home? It’s a pity my real home isn’t in this world.

***

At the same time as the citizens’ assembly was being held in Amendolara, the delegation from Thurii, still led by Anxitanos, arrived before the city gates.

“We are envoys from Thurii and wish to see your general! Please open the gates at once!” Burkos shouted up at the sentry on the wall.

Before the sentry could reply, a man appeared beside him and screamed down at them, “Go back, you Thurians! You are not welcome in Amendolara! Go back!”

The members of the delegation were angered by this reception. Even the usually mild-mannered Anxitanos shouted back in frustration, “You uncivilized mercenaries! Do not think that just because you have defeated the Lucanians, you can do as you please! You cannot ignore the common laws of the Greek city-states and forcibly occupy another’s city!”

The man on the wall let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Hah! Such a just and righteous tone, as if you truly care about the lives of the people of Amendolara! Open your eyes and look closely! I am an Amendolaran citizen who has lived here since childhood!”

Anxitanos was taken aback. Burkos, however, recognized the man; as a merchant, he often came to Amendolara for trade and knew many of its people. “Is that you, Antikles?!”

“Surprised I’m still alive, are you?” Antikles’s voice was filled with venom. “Thanks to you Thurians, the Lucanians cut off my right hand, but I was lucky enough to survive. But my neighbors, my comrades-in-arms—most of them are dead! Because of your selfish demands and coercion, they were forced to hastily evacuate to your damnable city, and they were attacked by the Lucanians, completely defenseless! All the suffering Amendolara has endured was caused by Thurii! From this day forward, Thurians are not welcome here! And that is not just my opinion; it is the shared will of every surviving person in Amendolara!”

Burkos was stunned. Anxitanos was stunned. The entire delegation was stunned. They had never imagined that the citizens of Amendolara would treat them this way.

Though Amendolara and Thurii were allies, the disparity in their strength was immense. Thurii had over twenty thousand male citizens and a total population of around one hundred thousand, which swelled to nearly one hundred and forty thousand when including its free residents, not even counting slaves. Amendolara, at its peak, had a population of just over ten thousand. As a result, Thurii had always treated Amendolara more like a vassal state than an ally, rarely considering its feelings. When the city was captured by the Lucanians, the Thurians had expressed their regrets, but their primary concern was the potential threat to the northern Sybarite Plain. When the escaped citizens of Amendolara had pleaded with Thurii to help them retake their home, Thurii had ignored them, preoccupied with its own defense. Now, faced with the profound resentment of the Amendolaran people, the Thurian envoys could feel nothing but shock.

“Don’t even think of making demands of Amendolara ever again, and Amendolara will certainly never listen to you again! Do you hear those cheers?!” Antikles laughed manically and clapped the sentry on the shoulder. “The entire population of Amendolara has just voted to accept all the mercenaries as citizens of Amendolara! So you see, they are not ‘forcibly occupying’ our city. They have legally become citizens of Amendolara! I hear the same allied Lucanian army that defeated Thurii twice was annihilated by these mercenaries. I imagine that from now on, anyone who wishes to invade Amendolara will first have to taste the steel of our new citizens’ shields and spears!”

The threat in his words made the faces of the Thurian delegation turn pale.

As Antikles’s laughter echoed from the walls, the Thurian envoys retreated in bitter silence.

Antikles stopped laughing, his mood greatly improved. He turned to study the sentry beside him. The soldier began to feel a shiver run down his spine under the intense scrutiny. Finally, Antikles gave a satisfied smile. “What’s your name?”

“Trottides.”

“Where are you from?”

“Thessaly. The same as General Davos.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

***

After a series of questions, Antikles got straight to the point, leaving the still-confused sentry speechless. “I have two daughters. One is twenty-one, very beautiful. Her husband is dead, and she has a two-year-old son. My other daughter is only sixteen and is not betrothed. You may choose one to be my son-in-law. Make your choice tonight, and tomorrow I will take you to my home for the wedding.”

Trottides was completely dumbfounded. The other sentries rushed over to congratulate him, slapping him on the back. One of the more brazen ones called out, “Antikles, since you have two daughters, why not let me be your other son-in-law?”

The wall erupted in laughter.

***

The Thurian delegation, however, was filled with sighs of despair.

“Who is that man, Antikles?” Anxitanos asked in a low voice.

“A nobleman of Amendolara. He used to be the captain of the city patrol and the fire brigade,” Burkos replied.

Anxitanos grunted in acknowledgment and said no more.

“General,” Burkos began, trying to offer some consolation, “although the people of Amendolara hold a grudge against Thurii, I know the mercenary general, Davos. Though he is young, he is a steady man and has a good impression of Thurii. Besides, we still have a contract with him. He won’t be easily swayed by the Amendolarans. I believe that after some time, once things have calmed down, we can still have a proper discussion with them.”

“Let’s hope so,” Anxitanos sighed. “The mercenaries have now legally become citizens of Amendolara, so our protests are meaningless. Given the situation, we will have to return and devise a new strategy. Ah… Burkos, do you know what I am thinking?”

“I do not.”

“My teacher once said, ‘After the Persian Wars, because of Sparta’s arrogance and its harsh and unreasonable treatment of its neighbors, the various Greek city-states turned away from Sparta and chose to deal with the more amiable Athens, which ultimately led to the formation of the Delian League.’” As he thought, Anxitanos’s voice filled with pained self-recrimination. “Have our actions in Thurii truly been too tyrannical? To put on such an arrogant posture without the strength to back it up… this is not a good sign.”

***

After the public referendum, the women and children left the square. Cornelius then asked Archytas to excuse himself as well, for what was to follow was the true citizens’ assembly of Amendolara.

Excluding the sentries on patrol and the soldiers guarding the prisoners, there were 512 original citizens of Amendolara and 2,920 newly minted citizens (1,837 from Davos’s own company, and 1,083 from the other mercenary units) gathered in the square, for a total of 3,432 citizens.

Cornelius intended to proceed with the agenda, but the mercenaries’ cheering was so incessant that the assembly had to be paused for some time. Only when the square had finally quieted down did he raise his voice. “Citizens of Amendolara! Given that the majority of you are new citizens, it is necessary for you to first understand the political system of Amendolara. Amendolara is similar to Tarentum… ah, similar to Athens.”

Cornelius had been about to say Tarentum, but on second thought, he realized these mercenaries from Ionia were unlikely to be familiar with Tarentum’s constitution. So instead, he chose the famous city-state of Athens as a point of comparison.