Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 330: Hegesitus

Pangam's expression became grim as he watches the enemy coming likes tides, and the fear on the faces of the soldiers around him worried him. He drew his sword violently and shouted, “Warriors of Clampetia, you have successfully stopped the powerful enemy for nearly a month, and now, our greatest test has come. Think about your parents, wives, and children, who are right behind us and need our protection. Take out your courage, and under the protection of Brutus, we will repel these timid enemies! We, the warriors of Bruttii, will never be slaves!”

“The chieftain is right! We absolutely can't lose. We definitely cannot be slaves!”

“Fight the Greeks to the death!!”

The Clampetian warriors' morale rose with Pangam's words and began pulling the bowstring against the enemy approaching the trench…

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

Diaolidas, a member of Crotone's Council of Hundreds, came to Terina with tons of grains and dozens of sheep to support the fourth legion of Theonia in the name of the South-Italia Alliance. However, he mainly came here to observe the progress of Theonia's war against Bruttii, and he just happened to witness the siege with his own eyes.

Later, he described what happened on that day to the Council after returning to Crotone, “…the Theonians invented a terrifying siege weapon. They call it Ballista. It is like a bow that can shoot stone balls weighing more than ten kilograms, and it can fly hundreds of metres away and hit the city wall with accuracy. And after days of continuous bombardment by this new siege equipment, a large gap appeared in the stone wall of Clampetia.

The Theonians also made something called a siege tower. It is like a movable wooden tower, taller than the walls of Clampetia. When the Theonians pushed it towards Clampetia, the archers on the top of the towers shoot at the enemies on the wall. And once they got closer to the city wall, a heavy drawbridge would be immediately drop down on the siege tower and bridge the gap between the tower and the city wall. Afterwards, the Theonian soldiers would then rush to the top of the city wall through the drawbridge.

The Theonians had not only used ballistae and siege towers, but they also used a lot of ladders to climb the city walls as we do. I watch as every one of their soldiers rushed to attack, and even if their comrades fell off the wall, they would rarely back down. Their courage was no less than that of our citizens. While the Clampetian warriors were not as fierce as they used to when facing us, it might be due to their number being too small, or that they are afraid of Theonia's terrifying siege equipment…anyway, the battle only lasted until the afternoon, when Theonia's fourth legion breached the city and killed the great chieftain of Clampetia, Pangam…”

The Council fell silent as Diaolidas finished reporting.

Not long ago, they have received a report of Theonia conquering Besidice, and now, they once again conquered Clampetia…‘When did the Bruttians, who were a headache for Crotone, became so weak?! Or is it just that Theonia's army has become stronger than Crotone?!’ The Crotonians are at a loss. Initially, when they saw that a war break out, they hoped that Theonia would have a hard time facing the Bruttians so that Crotone could take advantage of it, but now, it seems that this is just Crotone's beautiful dream and the strength that Theonia has shown made them feel scared.

“This is a good thing!” Then the strategos, Sistikos, stood up and said in a loud voice, “The nightmare that has plagued Crotone and other city-states for hundred of years has finally ended! The Crotonians will rejoice when they hear it!”

The words of Sistikos made those who have other thoughts realise that even if they want to pull down Theonia, the ecclesia might not pass their proposal.

At this time, the polemarchos, Lysias, stood up and said, “As a member of the alliance, we should be happy for Theonia's victory! Although the Theonians did not invite Crotone to participate in the war, Crotone, as a member of the South-Italia Alliance, should join hands with the other allies to present enough supplies to Theonia to show them our support!”

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

On the day of the fourth legion's massive siege, the army led by Davos still stayed in the camp on the bank of Finita River.

The soldiers were busy sending the sick and wounded back to Besidice, while the logistics camp brought the military supplies from Thurii to Besidice.

Davos was currently staring at the map of the Bruttii mountains in the main tent while thinking about what to do next.

At this time, Tolmides came in, “Milord, there are a lot of Bruttians outside the camp, and their leader, a man named Hegesitus, asked for an audience.”

Davos immediately said, “Let him in!”

Hegesitus was the one to instigate the previous riot in Consentia, but with the return of Pian's army, knowing that they were no match, these rebellious tribes fled Consentia in haste. At that time, Pian did not have the energy to suppress them as he was busy dealing with the Theonian army, and these tribes and their families and little food could only flee into the mountains and suffered a lot. Two days later, their food almost ran out, causing these tribes to complain to Hegesitus, and began looking at him with increasingly cold gazes.

At that moment, the people who went out to check on the situation brought back surprising news. A war broke out between the Bruttii Union and Theonia on the banks of Finita River, resulting in Bruttii's great defeat, and the huge army that Pian led when setting out from Consentia were greatly reduced when they fled.

These tribes attitude towards Hegesitus immediately changed after learning about what happened.

Hegesitus, on the other hand, led these tribes to seek refuge in the Theonian army.

For the sudden increase of more than two thousand mouths consuming the military ration, Davos did not care as he was more interested in Hegesitus, who had exceeded his expectations.

He looked at the man with a Greek appearance, but with a height and physique different from that of a Greek, and having long messy hair. He then asked with curiosity, “How did you convince them?”

“Lord archon.” Hegesitus knew that his opportunity has come, so he explained in detail, “Before the establishment of the Bruttii Tribal Union, the Consentian tribe headed by Pian was constantly annexing the surrounding weak tribes with force. Since the establishment of the Bruttii Union, in order for them to not arouse the resentment of the great chieftains such as Vergae and Besidice, Pian proposed to establish a ‘Chieftain Association’ in the union, in which all the tribal chieftains who voluntarily or have forcibly surrendered, saying that they should unite to manage and decide the affairs of the union. But in reality, these tribal chieftains have no power at all, as the union’s affairs were decided by the council of elders composed of several great chieftains and the high priest (the council of seven elders). And the people of these tribes were completely split up and forced to form a new tribe, which the union directly managed, and, of course, they had to pay taxes directly to the union every year.

And the tribal chieftains lost their rights, and the tribal warriors were also not used to their new tribe. Milord, you should know that each tribe has basically had the same blood flowing through them, and after hundreds of years of reproduction, they are all related by blood. Usually, if they have any difficulties, they will help each other, but now that they are separated from their tribes and needed to live independently, the lives of many warriors became much worse than before. What's more, in the city of Consentia, the warriors of the big tribes easily oppressed them. Therefore, no matter whether it is the chieftains or warriors, they have dissatisfaction in their hearts…”

Davos listened attentively and nodded from time to time. He felt that this set of measures of the Bruttii Tribal Union is even a step further than the system of the Lucanian Tribal Alliance, which has the intent to dismantle the old tribal system completely and highly centralise the power to the upper level of the union. If they managed to establish this union completely, then they would become a great enemy to Theonia.

“Milord, in order to protect the Siro tribe, you did not hesitate to fight the Bruttii Tribal Union!” Hegesitus, after his flattery, continued, “In order to respond to the war, the Bruttii Union had suspended the dismantling of the tribes that have later surrendered. So after sneaking into Consentia, I said to them that ‘Theonia will defeat the Bruttii Union and restore the rights and freedom of your tribes!’” At this point, Hegesitus cautiously glanced at Davos, a little worried that he would be criticised for deciding it by himself.

“You did the right thing!” Praised Davos. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped that he could, like the Bruttii Union, conquer the various tribes and bring them all under the rule of Theonia. However, he knew that such recklessness would only intensify the conflict between Greeks and the Bruttians and destroy the region’s stability, which was not worth the loss to Theonia. As an organisation of the same race, the Bruttii Union's strength has far surpassed the other tribes, but they had still allowed these small tribes to fall into rebellion. If the Greeks, who always had a grudge against the Bruttiis, carried out such centralisation measures, then the results wouldn’t have been good. Therefore, Davos decided that after conquering the Bruttians, he would still carry out the same strategy they implemented in Lucania, that is, to boil frogs in warm water*. On the surface, they would promise privileges to the tribes while secretly exerting subtle influence on the Bruttian warriors through the army and culture, which would eventually make them leave the control of the tribe. (note: slow integration) (T/N: There is a fable about this. If you were to put a frog in boiling water, it would jump out, but if you were to heat the water slowly, it will not notice the danger and be boiled to death.)

“These tribes were a bit interested in my proposal at first, but they were hesitant. But after milord's army conquered Besidice, shocking the whole of Consentia, only then did they made up their mind.” He then excitedly added, “Now that the army of milord defeated the Bruttians again, this victory will cause a huge impact on the situation within Consentia!”