Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 162: Persuade

“Uhm…it's going to be very popular!” Andrea was embarrassed, so she blocked her mouth with her hand. Then after she swallowed the delicious mutton, Andrea sincerely praised it. At the same time, she also put forward her own opinions, “But this food is more troublesome to cook because you need to continuously add firewood in order to maintain the heat.”

“Andrea, you are right. Therefore, to eat such food, we would need to have a special staff to serve them, and our charges will naturally be more expensive. And it's not just for this food, but some other stuff as well.” Explained Cheiristoya, while gesturing to the slave that was on stand-by.

The slaves then immediately brought up the cut tripe, seaweed and so on. After blanching and tasting it, they also thought that its taste is also very good.

At this time, Davos talked to Vespa and Bagul, “You see, after slaughtering a sheep, the fur can be used for clothing to keep out the cold, the bones can be used for the soup, the meat can be eaten, the intestines can be use for making sausages and other purposes, and other viscera can be made into delicious food…almost all parts of a livestock can be sold for money. With our full promotion, the Greeks will gradually start to like eating beef and mutton*, and the Lucanians are the best at grazing, and the Lucanians' sheep and cattle are famous in the whole of Magna Graecia. In the future, the livestock of Lucania will be welcomed by the citizen of Thua Union, and the life of you, Lucanians, will become better…” (The main food of the Greeks and the Romans are grains)

Vespa and Bagul did not expect that Davos would extend the livelihood of the Lucanians through this meal. An archon of a Greek city-state is considering how to make the life of the Lucanians better, this had made them felt strange and be emotional. For a while, they do not know what to say.

At this point, Davos raised his glass, “Come on, let's keep on drinking!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Eating new dishes, drinking new alcohol, and having two beauties to adjust the atmosphere, they naturally enjoyed the banquet.

Three men were left in the andron after they have eaten their fill.

Vespa ask directly while feeling tipsy, “Archon, what did you mean that I could still be the leader of the tribe?”

“When you have finished your sentence and become citizens of the Thua Union, I will invite you to become a member of the Senate, which will allow you to make suggestions for the Lucanians who live in the Thua Union and safeguard their interests. Is that not the equivalent of being a chieftain of a tribe?” Explained Davos.

After hearing this, Vespa was somewhat moved. After nearly half a year as a prisoner in Amendolara, he understood that Davos had really wanted the Lucanians to stay, otherwise, he would not try to reduce their sentence. Most of the young people in his tribe also wanted to become citizens of the Thua Union and enjoy the prosperous life that they couldn't even dream of enjoying in the mountains. However, as the leader of the tribe, he was still worried. But now, Davos made a promise to him.

Hence, Vespa continued to say without restraint due to him being drunk, “If you want my people to become your citizens, according to your rules, I am afraid that it will take five years, which would be too long!” After all, he is very old.

“According to the ?Thua Union Immigration Act?, it will indeed take you five years to complete your service, from applying to become a preparatory citizen to becoming an official citizen. However, there is a special mission. If your tribe participate in it, I will apply to the Senate to make all the men of your tribe into official citizen of Thua Union when you completed the special mission. And you, will not only become a member of the Senate, but also Bagul. I will also recommend him to be a member of the Senate!” Davos spoke something amazing.

The expression of Bagul became excited when he heard this.

Vespa was naturally excited as well, but he is much more experienced than Bagul. Davos was able to give them such favorable terms, which showed that the mission was not simple, “What kind of mission it is?” He asked with a bit of caution.

Davos looked at them and said, “The leader of Laos, Avinoges, has formed an alliance with Thua Union, and is ready to help us to capture Nerulum.”

Both were shocked and then fell into silence. Thua Union is ready to declare war on the Lucanians! Making Vespa and Bagul help Thua Union to fight against Greek, won't be a problem. However, it is not easy for them to attack their own people, although the Lucanian tribes often fought with each other, massacre and extermination of an entire tribe rarely happens.

Seeing that they were just silent and did not say any objection, Davos could guess what they were worried about, and so he said, “In the future, like the Greeks, the Lucanians under the rule of Thua Union will not only enjoy the rights and obligations of the citizens of the Union, but also maintain their own cultural traditions and customs. And the union will not interfere with it, but will also protect it.”

When Vespa heard this, he was moved and asked, “Can we continue worshipping our gods?!”

“Not only can you continue to worship your gods, but you can also build altars and temples for them. I heard. That you Lucanians have an important event called…uhm…Bull Festival?”

“Bullfighting Festival.*” Bagul interjected. (Note: a celebration in where two bulls fight each other in order to celebrate and bless the prosperity of their livestock.)

“After joining the union, this can also be continued! And we will make it bigger, by having us Greeks participate!” Said Davos with great interest.

“Milord, are all of these true?” Vespa was visibly moved.

“I can swear to Hades!” Said Davos solemnly.

Since the culture, customs and religion of the Lucanians are not changed, then it is equivalent to just having the great chieftain of the Lucanian tribe be replaced by the Senate of Thua Union and Davos. Moreover, if Lucania can be unified, the disputes and killing will be reduced, and bring peace to Lucania!

Vespa found a proper excuse for his compromise. And so after a bit of discussion with Bagul, Vespa immediately said that they are willing to join the army of Thua Union and participate in the military campaign in capturing Nerulum.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next day, the Thua Union held another emergency Senate meeting.

The meeting was held in Amendolara for the sake of confidentiality, because Thurii's Senate Hall had not been constructed. So, early in the morning, Solikos and other coachmen brought these noble statesmen to the city of Amendolara.

There are two topics for this meeting. First, Asistes brought back the agreement signed by Avinoges himself, and the war against Lucania was about to start, which made all the members of the Senate to be excited. And the other topic is to make the tribe of Vespa become citizens of the Thua Union.

Although according to the ?Immigration Act?, many outsiders have become citizens and preparatory citizens. The most typical example is Marigi, who is currently sitting in the room. But with such a large number, and what is more, they are the Lucanians who have caused great harm to Thurii and Amendolara, to become citizens of Thua Union, it made it difficult for many statesmen(specially the statesmen of Thurii) to accept it.

Many people expressed their opposition, among which, the words of Bolus were the most unsound, and he protested loudly, “Milord, this is a serious harm to the feelings of us the people of Amendolara and Thurii, by making the Greek civilized city into a barbaric and dirty stronghold of the Lucanians, and letting the people who have just survived the war with Lucania become their slaves again!”

Even Scambras and Stromboli, who had begun to accept and support Davos, joined the opposition.

Antonios, Kapus, Alexius and the others all stood up and supported the decision of Davos. They all thought that the Lucanians also loved life and were civilized and polite like the Greeks. Moreover, they had built the roads and help Thua Union defeat the Crotonians, you can see how much they wanted to serve the Union!

Bolus immediately retorted, “This is just a rush measure by which the cunning Lucanians did in order to gain freedom. In short, you outsiders can't understand our pain!”

The words of Bolus infuriated the statesmen who were former mercenary, and the debate at the meeting became fierce, even to the extent of swearing at each other.

Raphias, the rotating chairman, rang the bronze bell several times to stop the argument, but they all ignored him.

So, Davos had to stand up and shout, “BE QUIET! Otherwise, you can go out!”

The silence in the meeting soon return. Bolus wanted to say more, but when he saw the sharp gaze of Davos stabbing at him like a knife, he immediately lowered his head.

Davos then looked at everyone and exclaimed, “Since you all think that the alliance with Avinoges and capturing Nerulum is of great benefit in stabilizing the western side of the Union and preventing the invasion of Lucania. Then for now, let's put aside other reasons such as emotion and seriously consider this problem. After taking Nerulum, how will we manage it?”

Davos paused, then without waiting for the others to answer, he continued, “According to what you had just said, if we want to stabilize Nerulum, then we can only kill all the Lucanians in the city, or make all of them into slaves and moved them to Thurii, and then we will emigrate our people to Nerulum, right?”

This was the traditional practice of the Greeks in the colonial era, and there was no objection from the statesmen who had opposed before.

“First of all, Nerulum is a mountain city, and it is located in mountainous area. There is not much arable land in there, so we can only rely on grazing. Making the Greeks who love the sea move to the mountain city surrounded by mountains and the land production is not abundant, I am not sure how many people are willing to go there. I believe that you can give me an accurate answer.”

The wise statesmen like Kunogelata and Cornelius just stood by and no one else came forward to answer it.