“Hmm… The Tarantines aren’t as outwardly obvious as Hebaritus says, but it’s true they don’t like associating with us city-states on the Magna Graecia side.” Sitalkes, the soldier who knew Taranto well, answered seriously. “It’s just that these past few years, due to the constant harassment from the Messapians, they proposed creating a South Italian Defensive League in Magna Graecia to jointly resist the native barbarians! Although city-states like the former Thurii and Croton joined, everyone wasn’t actually very active…”

“What right do these Tarantines have to look down on us!” Hebaritus shouted loudly. “Brothers, you actually don’t know this, but the Tarantines claiming to be descendants of Sparta is all fake! They are descendants of bastards, children born of Spartan women and slaves!”

As soon as these words came out, the soldiers were in an uproar. Most of them came from poor backgrounds and hadn’t received much education, so naturally, they wouldn’t know the history of Taranto. They asked in surprise, “Hebaritus, is what you’re saying true?! Tarantines are [children of] Spartan women and slaves—”

“Of course it’s true! Any soldier who was originally a citizen of Thurii should know this. It is said that several hundred years ago, Spartan men were away at war for a long time, and the women… heh heh… felt unbearable, so they actually hooked up with the slaves! When the children were born and grew up, those Spartan men came back, learned of this matter, and couldn’t bear the insult, so they drove them out of the city-state. So the Spartans built Taranto not because they had too many people and insufficient food and were forced to colonize, but for the stability and reputation of the Spartan city-state. So it shouldn’t be the Tarantines looking down on us, but us looking down on them! Just a bunch of bastards! A bunch of—” Just as Hebaritus was mocking triumphantly, he suddenly heard the people around him shout in unison: “Watch out! Dodge!”

Before he could react, he took a heavy punch to the face. His vision instantly went black, and he pitched forward, fortunately caught by a comrade behind him.

“Hey, why are you hitting people!” Shocked, the surrounding soldiers hurriedly surged forward to restrain the angry soldier.

“Shut your mouth! Shut up! If you say another word, I’ll beat you to death! …” The soldier roared at Hebaritus, his eyes red and his face full of rage.

“Shut up, Prosous, are you crazy!” As the squadron leader, Sitalkes hurriedly stepped forward to scold the soldier who had hurt someone. “Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble, beating a comrade—you will be punished by military law!”

At this time, Hebaritus regained consciousness. Seeing who had hit him, anger rushed to his head as well. “You dare hit me! Brothers, beat him for me! Beat this annoying ‘Stone’!” With that, he lunged forward, pushed Sitalkes aside, and started grappling with Prosous. Several other soldiers, actually incited by him, also joined the fight.

The ship fell into chaos. The noisy shouting naturally alerted the Platoon Leader Parmenius, who was on the same ship. By the time he arrived with men, Prosous had already knocked those few soldiers, including Hebaritus, to the ground.

“Prosous, do you want to be kicked out of Theonia?!” Parmenius’s loud shout made the still-enraged Prosous shudder all over. Thinking of something, he immediately stopped kicking people and stood still with his hands at his sides.

“Tie him up for me!” Parmenius ordered.

The soldiers hesitated to step forward, but Prosous remained motionless, allowing them to pin him to the deck.

“Platoon Leader, he started it. I didn’t provoke him; he suddenly came up and punched me!” Hebaritus pointed to the bruise on his face and complained to Parmenius.

“You don’t speak yet.” Parmenius ignored him and instead asked the Squadron Leader Sitalkes for the reason. His face darkened immediately.

“Why beat your own comrade?!” Parmenius shouted.

Prosous, his hands tied behind his back and forcibly pressed to the ground, remained silent no matter how Parmenius questioned him.

Parmenius felt a headache now.

Previously, because many soldiers from the First and Second Legions had moved to Crimisa and Aprustum where the Fourth Legion would be established, the First and Second Legions had to expand recruitment to fill the vacancies.

Prosous, as a foreigner registered and applying to become a preparatory citizen, was said to be from Argos. After entering the recruit camp, his performance in training quickly stunned all the instructors in the camp: this young man was not only physically robust but also highly skilled. He was adept with shield, spear, military sword, and javelin alike. Moreover, he was very proficient in marching formation and listening to commands. He learned some tactical movements unique to Theonia as soon as he was taught, easily taking first place in the recruit camp’s grand competition.

The instructors were amazed by his military talent, and officers at all levels heard of his deeds, scrambling to have him join their units. Matonis was one of them; it was said he even used his connection with Davos to finally get him into his own unit, repeatedly reminding Parmenius to focus on grooming him.

However, Parmenius soon discovered that Prosous had a major flaw—he was antisocial. He performed excellently during training, but during breaks, he didn’t like to talk and rarely conversed with his teammates, always sitting alone to the side, thinking about who knows what. His teammates gave him the nickname “Stone” and accused him of arrogance, which was why Hebaritus had so many helpers in the fight just now. It was clear the soldiers in the unit didn’t like him.

“Very well, if you won’t speak now, the military judge will make you speak once we get ashore!” Parmenius threw down these words angrily and left. He still had to figure out how to mention this matter to Matonis.

Prosous was tied to the mast. He didn’t care about the strange looks from the surrounding soldiers, nor did he care about the punishment of military law. But his eyes reddened. He lowered his head, trying his best not to let tears fall, because at this moment, he thought of his mother.

Prosous was not his real name. He was Leotychides, the son of the former Spartan King Agis II. His mother had finally chosen suicide because of rumors and slander, and he had finally made up his mind to leave Sparta.

When looking for a place to stay, he found that there were not many places for him to choose from. The Eastern Mediterranean was now Sparta’s domain. Persia, which was at war with Sparta, might be a place to go, but although Leotychides wanted revenge on Sparta, he didn’t want to ruin his and his father’s reputation, making the people think that choosing his uncle Agesilaus to succeed the throne was correct. The Western Mediterranean was an area beyond the reach of Spartan power, and there were many Greek city-states, but he still hoped that one day he could cause trouble for Sparta, which had humiliated him and caused his mother’s death. Therefore, the city-states he could choose were few.

Syracuse was one, but it was an ally of Sparta. Carthage was one, but unfortunately, it was a foreign race with a language barrier, and Leotychides knew nothing about it. In the end, he chose Theonia because when Phoebidas complained to the Gerousia about his mission to Theonia, he mentioned Theonia’s rudeness to Sparta. Leotychides was at the meeting and was very curious about this rare city-state alliance that dared to despise Sparta. Before that, the Ephor Cleisophus had recommended a man he called “a foreigner with extraordinary military talent” to the Gerousia, and this person was the current Archon of Theonia. Leotychides clearly remembered that his uncle had also expressed concern about this person.

When he found an opportunity to escape Sparta and came to Magna Graecia, he discovered that Theonia’s influence in Magna Graecia was huge. It was almost the most powerful city-state alliance in southern Italy, and it had been established for less than two years.

Leotychides was surprised by Theonia’s rapid rise. He settled in the port of Thurii to observe. After learning about Theonia’s past deeds, distinctive city-state management system, and urban customs—especially after witnessing a triumph—he had a vague premonition that one day this city-state alliance could fulfill the wish in his heart. He felt he had come to the right place, so he decided to live anonymously and stay in Theonia.

He carried some of the gold and silver his father Agis had secretly stored in Crete to maintain his livelihood and applied to the Alliance to become a Theonian citizen. Thanks to the cruel Spartan “Agoge” training he had received since childhood, he stood out in Theonia’s recruit training, allowing him to obtain the status of a formal legion citizen even before becoming a preparatory citizen.

But immersed in the grief of his mother’s passing and harboring an unforgettable hatred for the Spartans, he could not yet integrate into this new group. And the word “bastard” was simply taboo for him; no wonder he would go mad upon hearing it.

***

The Gulf of Taranto was shaped like a gourd. Two naturally formed arc-shaped bays were superimposed on each other, not only expanding the port’s capacity but also making it safer. The Tarantines reinforced both the opening and the narrowed waist of the gourd bay, building two water gates to strengthen the defense of the port.

At this moment, the first water gate opened wide. Countless troop transport ships filed in, sailing toward the northwest corner of the bay one after another under the guidance and supervision of dozens of Taranto patrol boats. The coastline of the entire bay was quite long. The city of Taranto was in the southeast corner of the bay and could not encompass the land defense of the entire bay. Therefore, Taranto arranged the campsite for the Theonian reinforcements in the northwest corner of the bay. This was the place where Taranto city had the weakest control over the bay, and it was also out of the intention to let the Theonians help defend the bay.

Davos’s ship sailed through the first water gate. The sea surface, which had been relatively rough outside, was calm here, making him sigh with admiration: Although the port of Thurii has built breakwaters and has been excavated and widened inward, it is still somewhat crowded. When encountering storms, damage to ships is unavoidable. Unlike this bay here, there is no need to consider these issues at all. It is truly a natural, excellent port. I wonder what the port of Croton—another famous good port among the Magna Graecia city-states—is like?