Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 136: Outbreak of War

After an urgent discussion with the council, the terrified strategoi decided to send an envoy to ask for forgiveness to Crotone and to tell them that they are willing to make all compensation.

When this information reached Amendolara, Davos and the statesmen were shocked: After all, the envoy of a city-state represents the city-state itself, and it is a taboo to kill them, because that may mean war.

So Amendolara immediately cancelled their plan to participate in the Isthmian Games and began to pay a close attention to the development of the situation.

“Father, this is it! The Thurians will be punished by the gods!” Sostratus ran into the backyard excitedly.

Kunogelata, who was lying on his bed and basking in the sun, was not as excited as his eldest son. The former Polemarchos of Thurii, sighed with a sad look, “Just like what I had kept telling! Just like what I had kept telling, Nianses will harm Thurii!…”

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When the envoy of Thurii rushed to Crotone, in fact, the strategoi of Crotone had already receive the information through the merchant ship, so they only listened to the envoy's words coldly and they dismissed Thurii's proposal of “willing to make any compensation” by saying one sentence, “We can go to Thurii and take as much as we want!”

Crotone has already tolerated Thurii for a long time. Since the defeat of Sybaris a hundred years ago, Crotone's strength has been on the rise, becoming an important power in Magna Graecia. However, due to the strong strength of Athens, they were forced to allow the creation of the city of Thurii, which was undoubtedly a great shame for Crotone, who was used to dominating the “sole” of South Italy. After this incident, the new debt and the old debt will be calculated together, which can also make up for their empty treasury, this will be like killing two birds with one stone.

On the same day, Crotone's ecclesia have successfully passed a resolution to declare war on Thurii and launched a war mobilization to the citizens. On the morning of the third day, they have gathered 7,000 strong citizens. In addition, Aprustum and Scylletium sent 3,000 militia to join them, while Terina, who had just gone through a war and had faced the Bruttians directly, sent only 30 cavalry. Caulonia had also expressed their intention to join this war, which was politely refuse by the Crotone, because the south of Caulonia is the Locri alliance, and Locri and Crotone have been in a bad relationship for a long time. Caulonia is an important barrier to the south of Crotone, so there can be no mistakes.

Four days later, after offering a sacrifice at the temple of Apollo in Crotone and divining auspiciousness, one of the ten strategoi, then led a large army of ten thousand troops and march towards their enemy.

The war between Crotone and Thurii has finally broken out.

After receiving the information that the army of Crotone was already marching toward Thurii, Nianses had become extremely anxious. At the reminder of his colleagues, he proposed to the council that an ecclesia must be held urgently.

At the ecclesia, he made a passionate speech, first of all, it is about the failure of the peace attempt made by the council of Thurii, and explained the answer of the Crotones, which immediately aroused the indignation of many citizens. But when they heard that Crotone had ten thousand troops attacking, there was a long silence in the venue. It should be known that although the number of troops of Crotone was smaller than that of the Lucanian alliance, they are a true Greek hoplite army, and Crotone's citizen soldiers were always known for their strength in Magna Graecia.

At this time, Ariphes, the vineyard owner, shouted, “We should send an envoy once more to make peace with Crotone and to give them whatever they want.”

“Their demand is only more money and supplies, but the main point is that our treasury has bottomed out!” Strategos Bolus stood up and then said, “We can't give them more money unless we impose an extra war tax on the citizens.”

When they heard the collection of taxes, the place fell into silence again.

In the end, the war-torn citizens, who were already afraid of war, made a compromise. They reluctantly said that they agreed with the city hall's tax collection requirements in order to avoid the flames of war reaching Thurii, but they were afraid that even this would not satisfy the appetite of the Crotonians..

“We have to first try.” Plesinas raised his arms and shouted, “If you lose your wealth, you can earn it back, but it's too late to regret when you lose your loved ones!”

And so the proposal was passed, and Nianses has temporarily breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why don't you send someone to Taranto and asked them to help us make peace with Crotone?! Since Taranto advocates the establishment of the Magna Graecia's defensive alliance, then they certainly does not want a war between city-states!” Another person stood up and then said, “Moreover, with Taranto's powerful strength, Crotone will certainly be worried about them, and an armistice is more likely to happen!”

“That's a great idea, Enanilus!” As the owner of the largest shipyard in Thurii, Nianses couldn't easily offend him, so he nodded repeatedly, “Thank you for reminding me, we will immediately send someone to Taranto!”

“Even if there is a possibility of an armistice, we should also be ready in case of a failure! What should we do if Crotone insist on fighting?” Another man stood up and said.

As soon as Nianses saw him, he identified that it was Ansitanos who was talking. Although the relationship between the two was strained because of Kunogelata, he had to admit that his proposal very reasonable. So, Nianses asked, “Do you have any good advice, lord Ansitanos?”

“First of all, we will have our citizens arm themselves. Crotone has a large force, so we can't fight them head-on outside the city. Therefore, the high wall will help us resist their attack and weaken their morale…”

The words of Ansitanos have been recognized by many citizens, “Yes, the city of Thurii is strong, and even though the Lucanians had manage to reach the city twice, they still couldn't do anything about it. So it will be the same with Crotone!”

Ansitanos continued, “Next…Amendolara is our ally, and everyone here knows the strength of their soldiers, and so we should request for their aid!”

When it comes to Amendolara, Nianses is as miserable as eating a fly. However, all the participants agreed, “Ansitanos is right! We should go and ask them for their help. Only if there are here, can we be at ease!”

“I have said it for a long time that it is not worth fighting Amendolara for the sake of a few slaves. I am afraid that it won't be easy to ask for their help now!”

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When Nianses heard these words, he was embarrassed, and then said, “This is a good proposal. Burkes, you are to go to Amendolara.”

Burkes, who had always been mild tempered, immediately refused, “I am not competent. It is better to let the capable Plesinas go.”

On hearing this, Plesinas bowed his head and did not speak. He knew that if he went, he would not only fail to request reinforcements, but might also be beaten severely.

It is not surprising that Burkes won't cooperate. At the start, he urged the city hall to fulfill its promise to give the slaves their freedom, but the city hall ignored his proposal, which led to the slave uprising, and some of the slaves have fled to Amendolara. At this time, as a strategos, Burkes understand Davos and thought that it would be better to fulfill his promise and give freedom to the slaves, so as to make good friends with him.

Nianses and the other strategoi had not only rejected his proposal, but also thought that, due to the relationship between him and Davos, it would be difficult for him to demand the slaves back from Amendolara, and so they had sent the arrogant and inflexible Plesinas. What Burkes had said just now is the same words that Nianses had said when he refused to send him as an envoy to Amendolara, and now, Burkes has returned it back to him intact. One can only imagine the expression on the face of Nianses.

At this moment, even if Nianses secretly hates Burkes, he could only plead, “Burkes, this is a matter of life and death for Thurii! No one but you can complete this task! I hope that you can go to Amendolara and request reinforcements from Davos!”

Burkes just snorted and simply nodded his head in response to the request of the citizens.

“Amendolara is a small city-state, so they should not be able to send too many reinforcements. So it is still up to us to rely on ourselves.” Ansitanos continued, “I propose to mobilize the freeman and promise to give them citizenship. Of course, we have made the same promise before, but we haven't fulfilled it. This time, in order to win their trust, as long as they promise to participate in the war, we will grant them citizenship immediately!”

Another proposal of Ansitanos have made Nianses felt uncomfortable. Let alone him, the citizens who participated in the ecclesia almost did not agree with him because of their interest. At last, Ansitanos only got an answer, “We will consider it later…”

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During the time of the ecclesia in Thurii, the army of Crotone has arrived outside the city of Krimisa after a half day's march.

Krimisa, was originally a colonial city-state of Sybaris. After the fall of Sybaris, it changed side to the alliance of Crotone. After Athens construction of Thurii, an agreement with Crotone specifically mentioned that Roscianum* and Krimisa must remain neutral. (T/N: We are renaming Castellon into Roscianum, because we couldn't find any city-state with that name and the only city-state in the same location as Castellon is called Roscianum.)

And now, in front of the army of Crotone, Krimisa did not hesitate to open their gates to welcome them, and they even took the initiative to dispatch a thousand men to join the army of Crotone.

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“Melanseus of Crotone, he is 45 years old, and he have won two Olympic wrestling championship and one Isthmian wrestling championship when he was young. He took part in many battles against Locri and the Brutians, and he had independently commanded a battle twice and won…he fought bravely and often took the lead in charging, but he was not liked by the soldiers because he always liked to attribute the victory to himself…It was said that he was tall and handsome, and lived a luxurious life and he was very popular with the women of Crotone. For this reason, the men envied him and deliberately did not vote for him, making him lose the election of strategoi many times. His friends had even often advised him to ‘not pay too much attention in dressing up and to keep a low profile.’ But he replied with, ‘Apollo have given me a strong body and a wise brain. If no one envies me, then I won't be able to show my exceptionality!’”