Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 160: An unexpected visitor

The prosperity of the port has made the statesmen of the Senate busy.

The city of Thurii's praetor, Kunogelata, is busy dealing with all kinds of disputes and lawsuits all day, and he also has to select the patrolman and firefighters to maintain the order in the booming port area, prevent fires and to pay attention to new management problems brought about by the increasing numbers of preparatory citizens in the city.

The city of Amendolara's praetor, Cornelius, is also facing the same problem because of the influx of foreign people into the warehouse and inn area and the newly built market.

The inspector, Antonios, has to pay a close attention to the changes in the moral atmosphere of the people in the two cities, whether the people get along well with each other, whether there is a maltreatment of the elderly, women and children, and whether there is abusement of the freeman and slaves.

Philesius, the military officer, has a headache about how to integrate the huge preparatory citizens into the army and train them into qualified soldiers in the shortest time.

One can only imagine how busy the census officer, Raphias, is. As he had asked the Senate more than once to increase the number of scribes and archivists.

Mersis, the financial officer, was busy collecting land tax and business tax. Although he lost a lot of weight because of this, but the busier the fatty is, the happier he becomes.

Marigi, the commerce officer, is under great pressure. He not only have to ensure the high-quality service of the market and the port, but also to maintain the order of the two areas with the largest flow of people, especially in the port areas with a large number of foreign people. At the same time, he should also consider the sustainable development of the trade of the Thua Union. Because with the gradual completion of the reconstruction of Thurii, the demand for certain commodities among the residents of the city will naturally decrease significantly. How to prevent the sharp decline of foreign trade? He has been trying to find a way out, and Davos has even gave him an advice, ‘Before the Thua Union can developed a new, unique and high-quality goods, we can only rely on novel competitive games and entertainment to attract the rich people from other city-states to consume their money in the city…’

Although the agricultural officer, Burkes, was a merchant before, he was also a landowner. He had planted grapes, olives, and wheat, so he was familiar with agriculture. So now, he was not only responsible for measuring the land, allocating land, leasing land, resolving disputes between neighbors, but also to provide suggestions to the people according to the actual situation of the agricultural land, in order for them to obtain higher harvest and income.

Alexius, the aedile, is undoubtedly one of the busiest senior civil servant. Although the redevelopment council is in charge of the reconstruction of Thurii and is presided over by Heracleides, the specific implementation is his work. He is not only responsible for purchasing various building materials in time, but to also organize human resources and maintaining order of the goods. At the same time, he has to supervise the construction of the roads and bridges that is presided over by Heracleides the Younger. And also, the construction of the new market in Amendolara. Therefore, he is busy from morning to night every day, like a tired dog. When he sees Davos, he yells to him saying he will quit, but the next morning, he will devote himself into his busy schedule.

Besides the statesmen who are so busy serving as civil servants. The other statesmen were not idle, either. They had set up committees at the initiative of Davos, in order to assist the Union in managing its affairs.

The important Union mediation committee is composed of three members. Once there is a big dispute in the city-state and cannot be solved with the law for a moment, they will be the one in charge to solve the dispute.

The civil servants in the investigation committee is composed of five members, which are responsible for the monitoring the employment situation of the middle and low-ranking civil servants and establishing files for future promotion as a reference. At the same time, if the people report a civil servant, they will need to investigate whether it is true and to respond to it.

There are also three members in the coinage committee. Most of the Greek city-states cast their own coins. First, it is to make trading and earning profit more convenient. Second, it is to commemorate events and the gods that they worship. Third, it is to publicize their existence to other city-states. Of course, the Thua Union is no exception, and they are just waiting for the first coins of their own after the reconstruction of Thurii…

There are also temporary committees, such as the temple preparation committee, which is headed by Plesinas. The statesmen of these committees serve the same duties as civil servants, most of whom serve for two years and rotate at the end of their term.

Although October is not the general election day of the Union, it has now become the ?Union Civil Service Act?, after the announcement, the various departments have a day to recruit civil servants, and the candidates are gathered. When the candidates are tested, the person in charge will screen those who had pass the test according to the situation of the citizens. Those who have joined the army and have fought many times, pay taxes on time, abided by discipline and law, and had performed meritorious service or have paid wounds bravely in the battles are preferred. The first two are compulsory. However, if they do not join the army or pay taxes, then they do not have the qualifications to serve as a civil servant. And disabled citizens will be check whether their works will be affected by their disabilities.

At a time when the statesmen were confused and the citizens were busy with their official duties, Davos met a special guest at his house in Thurii.

This is a strong middle-aged man, although he is wearing Greek clothes, but it cannot hide the fierce wildness of the mountains. Sure enough, under the watch of the guards, he spoke in strange Greek, “Milord Archon of the Thua Union, Avinoges of Laos has asked me to give his greetings to you on his behalf. I am his brother, Alobamus.”

Davos was shock, but his expression remained unchanged, and said slowly, “Laos? Laos of Lucania?!”

“Yes.” Alobamus stares at Davos and said straightforwardly, “Although Laos is currently belonging to Lucania, my brother and I are both Greek!”

Davos already knew about it, so he was calm and looked at Asistes who was next to him.

Asistes immediately asked, “As far as we know, Avinoges is an important leader of Laos. Before the war between Lucania and Thurii, he had strongly supported the alliance of Lucania and Thurii to fight. He is one of the main enemies of our Thua Union, so it is not important whether he is a Greek or not!”

Alobamus didn't expect that the other side knew about their situation very well, and it was useless using the same race card, which made him a bit flustered, “We are Greeks! Laos is a colony built by Sybaris. A hundred years ago, the Lucanians march south when the city of Sybaris was destroyed by Crotone, and no other city-state had sent troops to rescue Laos. We, people of Laos, had no other choice but to turn to Lucania in order to save our people. However, we have not forgotten the noble Greek blood flowing in our veins. We still speak Greek at our home, worship the great Apollo and Hera, and we look forward to returning back to Greece! Because of this, the Lucanians are very wary of us, oppress us, insult us, and regard us as a different race. In order not to be doubted and destroyed by them, we needed to do something against our own wishes!”

Alobamus look at Davos with respect then said excitedly, “And my brother and I have been greatly heartened to hear that you, Milord, have defeated the Lucanian alliance with only fewer men! I couldn't imagine that not long after, you had managed to lead your army again to defeat the mighty Crotone, and become the master of Amendolara and Thurii, which are adjacent to the territory of Lucania! My brother admires your great military achievements and sincerely hopes to get your help, and let us, the suffering descendants of Sybaris and the city of Laos, to return to the embrace of Greece!”

Davos was not moved by the praised of Alobamus, and just nodded calmly, “What kind of help do you need from Thua Union?”

“My brother hopes to form an alliance with Thua Union and fight against the Lucanians together, after taking back Laos!” Alobamus said excitedly.

‘Sure enough!’ Said Davos to himself, then he said, “What kind of agreement?”

“Just like the agreement with Thua Union and Roscianum-” Alobamus recalled what Avinoges had taught him, “As an ally, the Thua Union does not interfere in the internal affairs of its allies, you can only manage…diplo…diplomatic power and war leadership…”

Obviously, Avinoges has conducted a detailed investigation on Thua Union and have come prepared, which shows that they attach great importance to this visit! After Davos grasped the situation, he said without showing any interest, “I see. You can go back to your accommodation and wait for me to discuss it together with the statesmen before I can give you an answer.”

“I hope that lord Archon will give me an answer as soon as possible!” Alobamus said anxiously.

“Why?” Davos pretended that he could not understand.

Alobamus was unable to respond for a moment.

Asistes then said with a smile, “It's because Nerulum has chosen a new leader and has urged Avinoges to lead his people to the city of Nerulum, right?”

Alobamus was stunned, ‘The people of Thua Union already knows everything!’

“Hmm, I'll give you the answer as soon as possible.” Said Davos with certainty this time.

After Alobamus left uneasily, Davos then asked, “Asi, what do you think of the requirements of Laos?”

“Milord, just as we have analyzed before, Avinoges has been forced to resist, but according to his present situation, even if we make more demands, he will still certainly agree. It would be too good for him if we give him the same agreement as that of Roscianum!” Said Asistes with reluctance.

Davos shook his head and said, “Although Avinoges rebelled against Lucania and can only rely on us. But if our demands are too harsh, Avinoges will be discontent. If there is any accident, it is likely that he will rebel once again! We have no foundation to the west of the mountains, so we must rely on the full help of Laos. As long as Laos joins our alliance, we will have a foothold in the west coast of the Apennine peninsula, which will greatly promote the trade development of our alliance! Therefore, we should have a long-term vision and don't weigh in comparison with those small benefits!”

What Davos said made Asistes felt ashamed and so he nodded again and again, and then he heard Davos say, “Of course, it is not like we are not asking for anything. My request is – Nerulum!”