Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 724: The Romans and the Samnites acted

After much negotiating, Kapus transferred Arpenst to the Military Supply Department as Deputy Quartermaster-General. And since Arpenst had taken on a great deal of work in recent years and performed his duties as Deputy Quartermaster-General smoothly and without error, Kapus was relieved most of his burden and alleviated Davos’ worries.

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

Davos consoled him, saying, “Our food problem will soon greatly improve, so you need not worry. Sostratus had organised the merchants of Thurii, and Statesman Alkibiades had organised the merchants of Rhegium to buy a large quantity of grain in the Black Sea and Egypt, which would soon be shipped. Also, a second shipment of grain from the Egyptian pharaoh will arrive shortly, and we will use all of it for military supplies.”

“That's great!” Arpenst finally smiled.

“What do you think of Rome's attack on the Hernicans?” Davos turned his head to look at the Chief of the Military, Hielos.

Hielos exchanged glances with Hieronymus, Philesius and Arpenst. Then he said with a grave expression, “Your Majesty, after our discussion… We believe the Romans have changed their target, shrinking their defensive line at the coastal side and attacking the Hernicans with all their might so that our Third Fleet can't play its role, which is an excellent strategy. With the Romans placing many soldiers in the various towns near the coast, our First Legion and the Volscians dared not attack them for fear of increasing the casualties of our already small forces. Consequently, it allowed the Romans to concentrate on attacking the weak Hernicans with all their might, so they couldn’t withstand the Roman soldiers’ attack even with the Volscians’ help unless the Aequians and Marsians came to their aid. Otherwise, it would result in the Hernicans’ end. That is also why Amintas wrote a letter asking for additional reinforcements.”

“Your Majesty, we have just signed an alliance agreement with the Hernicans.” Philesius interrupted.

Davos nodded and didn't speak for a moment as he stared at the area where the Hernicans lived on the map.

The others also remained silent, waiting for Davos to make a decision.

Suddenly, the court herald Aristias hurriedly pushed the conference room door and said, “Your Majesty, a war report from Latium has arrived.”

Davos read it, which caused his eyes to open wide. Then he handed the papyrus scroll to Hielos.

Hielos hurriedly took it and became surprised after reading it, “The more than ten thousand joint armies organised by the Aequians and the Marsians had attacked the Latium city-state of Bolae to attract the Roman army attacking Hernici. However, over twenty thousand Roman soldiers quickly departed from Rome and attacked them. As a result, the Aequians and the Marsians suffered a disastrous defeat!”

“How are the Romans still have over twenty thousand soldiers?!” Everyone in the room who heard it was equally surprised.

Aristias calmly replied, “They might be the troops from Rome's colonies and their Etruscan allies north of the Tiber.”

“It seems the Romans have already planned this!” Davos exclaimed, “And they brilliantly executed Camillus' plan to lure the enemy with bait..”

Everyone in the room was a war veteran, so they understood what Davos meant. Camillus had placed the Roman army on the front line and left their rear defences empty while hiding an army within Rome. Then the Aequians and Marsians, afraid to confront the Roman army head-on with their meagre strength, sent their joint army to sneak into the Roman army's rear to force them to retreat. But unfortunately for them, they were attacked by the prepared Romans since Rome was only twenty-five kilometres from Bolae.

Philesius leaned over to carefully observe the map again. Then, his eyebrows knitted together, “Your Majesty, the Aequians and the Marsians could no longer rescue the Hernicans after this disastrous defeat, and the Romans can now attack them boldly and confidently. Then here-”

Philesius pointed to the Roman army camp and said in a low voice, “The Romans already have over forty thousand soldiers, and with the addition of over twenty thousand men, it is far from what the reinforcements from the Hernicans and Volscians could deal. Thus I believe the Romans would soon destroy the Hernican forces and then attack the Volscian towns in the east, or-” Philesius pointed towards the plains between the Lepini and Ausoni mountains and said with a worried look, “Lead the army back to the west and attack the Volscians in the coastal side from the east. At that time, even the First Legion couldn't stop that many Roman soldiers. And once the stationed soldiers in the Roman colonies in the southwest took advantage of the situation, I am sure they would quickly wipe out the Volscians, and the Romans would completely conquer Latium!”

Hielos also interjected, “Your Majesty, you asked us to keep an eye on Rome before. But honestly, we didn't give it much thought, and now it seems they really do have a high war potential! Since the Romans could attack Hernici with more than four thousand men, defeat the combined army of the Aequians and Marsians with twenty thousand men and defend the three cities of Antium, Velitrae and Satricum by stationing nearly ten thousand soldiers in each city, it just proves that the Romans could organise a massive army of at least a hundred thousand. And even if we assume they don't all have the same strength as the Roman army that fought against the First Legion, they would still trouble us!”

Several other officials also agreed with Hielos.

“Rome's vast army is indeed a great trouble.” Davos glanced at them and said deeply, “But the greatest threat is their dictator, Camillus! Although Carthage is a powerful force, Hanno, their ruler, obviously has no experience of war and no understanding of the meaning of war, for the generals and the troops they send out are like games. But Camillus knows that a war with us means the survival of Rome, so he has done his best since the start.

I had even received information about how he proposed and passed a proposal in the Roman Senate about distributing the newly conquered lands to the landless plebeians and the active integration of the exiles from the Latium and Etruscan regions as Roman citizens… As a result, the bitter conflicts between the nobility and the plebeians in the Roman city-states would ease and significantly increase the number of Roman soldiers they could muster. Everyone, you must be aware that Rome isn’t just a great trouble for us but a real threat to our kingdom of Theonia!”

Davos' words made everyone look grave. Even the silent Hieronymus couldn't help but curse, “This Rome! Not only had they stolen our military system, but they had also copied our political system!”

Whether the Romans had created their military system or copied it from Theonia was a topic that the officials of the Ministry of Military occasionally discussed in their spare time. But it was clear that those present had no desire to discuss the matter further as they all stood around the three-dimensional map, gazing intently at the familiar and unfamiliar city-state on the middle reaches of the Tiber.

Tolmides suddenly said, "Your Majesty, if the Romans destroy the Hernicans and then take the cities in the mountains east of Volsci, they will then border the Samnites. But will the Samnites, with their customs, live in peace with such a powerful new neighbour? My idea is to think of something that could bring these two forces into fierce conflict, and by then -”

“The Samnites aren't so stupid.” Philesius asked, “They just ended a war with us, and now we are fighting the Romans. They for sure know that the enemy of the enemy is a friend!”

“The Samnite chieftains knew this, of course. But these tribal warriors and people living on the borders of Rome might not necessarily listen to them for their interests. So once the conflict became fierce, it would be beyond the control of their chieftains…” Tolmides explained.

While they were arguing, Aristias, who had long since left the room, reentered and hurriedly said to Davos, “Your majesty, Dauni sent an emergency military situation!”

Davos opened it and then raised his head with a solemn expression. Faced with curious gazes, he slowly said, “We don't need to discuss the possible conflict between the Samnites and Rome. This morning, the Samnites invaded our Dauni region!”

“What?!!” The expression on everyone's face changed dramatically.

Hielos hurriedly took the war report from Davos, and several people rushed to read it.

“The Samnites attacked Ausculum, Vibinum and Gerunum in the Dauni region. Although the Samnites managed to take Gerunum, which had become lax in its vigilance due to its proximity to our friendly Frentani allies, the citizens of the other two cities managed to repel the enemy's attack. Still, they are now under siege. Your Majesty, the Samnites have declared war on us!” Philesius said, out of breath, as he read the war report.

“Isn't that good? We no longer need to worry about when the Samnites will betray us daily. And since they were foolish enough to leave the mountains, which are a headache for us, to fight in the plains, it allows us to completely relieve ourselves of this big Samnite problem!” Davos did not pretend to be calm. The Samnite's attack would have made him nervous ten years ago, but the strength of the Kingdom of Theonia now has given him the confidence to completely defeat this fierce wolf blocking Theonia's path of expansion to the north. Moreover, the Samnite's betrayal could even be attributed to his deliberate manipulation.

Davos' relaxed demeanour and confident words were like a cup of cool, sugary water for the many people in the room, calming their nerves.