Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 749: The Trainee Judge Pleka

Pleka was a little preoccupied while returning from the port's court. His usual habit would have him stop at the port market, which always had a carnivalesque atmosphere at dusk with acrobats, dancers, jugglers and comedians… performing to attract visitors to the market while stallholders set up a variety of small, exotic handicrafts or aromatic foods while shouting to attract customers… the port market had become the place for street performers and stallholders from dusk until late afternoon, as well as a place for the people of Thurii to wander around after dinner.

Pleka used to stop here to listen to the bards, taste the sea fish fried in olive oil and buy some herbal porridge that smelled of mint or thyme… but today, he just kept walking until he finally left the market.

In front of him were rows of magnificent temples, from the initial temple of Hera to the temple of Heracles, the temple of Apollo, and even Amara, the goddess of snow and the mountains of the Bruttians, and Asinu, the patron god of the Lucanians… The people of Thurii called this area ‘the land of the gods', where the temple flames always burned, and many worshippers came even during the day (they couldn't compare with the temple of Hades, of course). When most worshippers had left, the temples would regain their majesty and emptiness at dusk.

The prayers of the priests to the gods in the various temples echoed in Pleka's ears as they passed through the thick stone walls and towering corridors, soothing him slightly but not slowing him down. But he stopped once he passed through the temple of Hera, for he saw the plain white carriage and heavily armed palace guards parked outside the temple. He knew that it was the Queen Consort of Theonia and High Priestess of Hera, Agnes, who was about to return home.

To show his respect, Pleka decided to stand still, and many people, like him, watched as the beautiful and kind-hearted queen consort waved to them with a smile before boarding the carriage and leaving.

Continue north, and you will enter the outer city of Thurii. A foreign merchant who came to do business in Thurii once remarked, “The inner and outer districts of Thurii are like the nobility and the commoners, one embodying elegance and order, the other liveliness and vitality, yet both so harmonious that there is no conflict or contradiction…”

But what the foreign merchant failed to understand was that: The formation of Thurii's inner and outer districts of the cities was not caused by differences in identity and status but by differences in the time the people joined the kingdom.

The inhabitants of the Inner District joined the Theonia Union before the kingdom’s foundation. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Outer District joined the Union mainly after the kingdom's foundation. Since the inhabitants of the Inner District joined the Union during its founding, they had more opportunities to participate in the Union's governance and wars, allowing them to earn more rewards. As a result, most of the citizens of the Inner District were either statesmen, officials or army officers. Naturally, they have made great sacrifices for Theonia's survival and development, with 1/5th of the citizens of the Inner District either dead or disabled in battle.

The outer district also had many statesmen among its citizens, most of whom joined the kingdom after its foundation, and most came from southern Greece, eastern Sicily and the Apulia region. Many citizens also became officials and military officers of the kingdom through their own efforts, including Pleka. As a result, many of the citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen who had just settled in the Outer Districts weren't jealous of these important figures, as they all hoped to become like them through their own efforts.

And with the laws of Theonia and the strict control of the Ministry of Inspection, the Outer District was orderly since those who wanted to make a living in the kingdom usually didn't break the laws that would hinder their future. As a result, the Outer District is much more orderly than many Greek city-states. Nevertheless, the Outer District has too many residents of different origins, such as citizens of the Kingdom, freemen and Greeks from other city-states. There are also other ethnic groups from different places, making it difficult to manage and prevent contradictions and conflicts. Furthermore, the matters would be either too complex or too trivial, which is also a headache for the judge of Thurii.

In times of peace, Pleka would walk the streets of the Outer District, as he liked to observe the people chatting on both sides of the road, trying to determine which were Theonian citizens, which were foreigners, what their occupations were, where they came from, and what their personality traits were… perhaps it was due to his occupational disease as a judge.

He had accumulated a certain amount of experience in understanding people through his long observations. Now, he could even tell the Theonians and the freemen apart at a glance without even thinking about it.

Theonians were physically strong and walked with great vigour, thanks to their meat diet and long years of military training; they also followed the advice of their physicians to avoid unnecessary injuries and colds. In addition, they were always well dressed, wearing leather sandals when they went out (many people in the Greek city-states went barefoot), and they liked to decorate their chitons with various medals, which was an important source of respect and boasting to others. They also spoke loudly, laughed merrily and were naturally optimistic, as if no difficulties could defeat them, which is perhaps the temperament of citizens of a great kingdom. Of course, their Greek language was difficult for visitors from other Greek city-states to understand since the kingdom’s several mixed ethnic cultures influenced them…

Pleka's residence was next to the Persephone Arena. The properties near the arena were cheaper since it wasn’t popular due to the noise during the day, inevitably affecting the people living there. In particular, since it's almost March, the rugby matches have started in various cities of the kingdom, and the festival for the fans to revel in has arrived. And since Pleka has just become a citizen of Theonia, he has no choice.

When he reached the neighbourhood of his home, he had to keep on stopping to return the neighbour’s greeting. Only during this time would he leave his troubles behind as he enjoyed the respect of his neighbours. After all, he had worked his way up from the bottom to become a trainee judge in the kingdom despite his humble beginnings as a slave. And since Theonia is a kingdom where the rule of law prevails, a judge is undoubtedly one of the public positions that the common people respect.

As he walked through the alley, he heard several neighbours who were part of the reserve legion talking gleefully about the army's imminent attack on Latium, so he walked even faster to get home.

“You're back!” His wife greeted him and took Pleka's rucksack.

Pleka nodded and entered the courtyard.

“Master!” Then two slaves, a man and a woman, greeted him respectfully.

Pleka nodded at them with a serious expression and entered his house. Because Pleka didn’t have enough money when he got married, his house wasn’t a two-storey, and after saving enough money to renovate his home, he had to buy a slave to take care of his pregnant wife. Then, early last year, he saved again to buy a male slave to look after his land, but the slave was almost useless because the drought lasted for more than half a year.

“Where're the kids?” Pleka asked with concern.

“Emira took them out to play for an afternoon, and they immediately fell asleep after eating some porridge,” said his wife. Then she asked, “Oh, dinner's ready. Shall we eat while it's still hot?”

After Pleka nodded, his wife Kusniya quickly ordered the slave to go and bring the food to the table.

Pleka looked down and saw that the food was a large pot of oatmeal porridge with gourd and peas, causing his eyebrows to furrow. It wasn't that he was picky, but he'd been eating this stuff for a month now, so he was getting a bit tired of it.

Kusniya, seeing her husband's dissatisfaction, quickly said, “There's some sheep's milk and cheese left; how about I take it out?”

Pleka knew they were reserving the goat's milk and cheese for the children, so he just waved his hand.

“Shall I go to the market tomorrow and buy some wheat, grind it into flour and make some bread?” Kusniya asked again.

“There's going to be another war soon, so the price of wheat on the market is high now, and there's no point in spending that kind of money. Since we still have a lot of beans and gourds in the cellar, we must hurry and eat them before they go bad,” Pleka said, sighing inwardly. He had almost wiped out his savings because of the more than half a year of drought, and if it hadn't been for these vegetables he had harvested after replanting his fields, he would have had to go to the bank and take out a loan to buy food. It's already good that they still have some food.

Having thought about it, he scooped up a spoonful of the sticky porridge and put it in his mouth.

“I have good news for you. We have planted all the wheat in the field today!” Kusniya said cheerfully to make her husband happy.

As a Theonian citizen, Pleka owned one acre of land, a small amount compared to many older citizens. However, it is still not easy to take care of this land, so it was clear that the male slave he had purchased had finally been of great use, but that only reinforced his decision.

“Kusniya, I have something to tell you.” Pleka looked at his wife as he solemnly said, “I have decided to follow the army His Majesty led to Latium!”

“You're just a reserve soldier, and you haven't even joined the Reserve Legion, so will they let you in?!” Although Kusniya thought her husband wanted to join the battle, she wasn't panicked, just slightly confused.

“I will not fight against these foreign races. Rather, His Majesty has called upon us idle civil servants to volunteer to follow the army to Latium and help govern the conquered territories, so I have decided to enlist.”