Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 760: The New Laos

“Oh, it's no wonder he's so handsome! If I had a daughter, I would have her marry him!”

“Stop daydreaming! He is the eldest son of His Majesty Davos and the future king, yet you want to be the prince's father-in-law?! Prince Crotokatax's future wife must be one of the most treasured ladies in our kingdom or a foreign princess!”

Theonian women, unlike the women of other Greek city-states, were known throughout the Greek world for their passion, openness and boldness. However, Laos' racially mixed environment made the girls even more uninhibited and passionate. They took the initiative to throw flowers at the young prince and even call his name affectionately.

As this was Crotokatax's first time in such a situation, he became embarrassed and shy, which made the girls cheer even more.

“Your Majesty, it seems Prince Croto is more popular than you.” Tolmides teased.

Davos just laughed and didn't respond, making Crotokatax even more embarrassed.

Suddenly, some people besides the road asked in confusion, “Who is that fierce-looking Old Man next to His Majesty Davos?!”

‘A fierce-looking Old Man?!’ Tolmides' expression became unpleasant. He was only in his fifties and still felt young, not to mention that he only had two scars on his face, so how could they call him fierce looking?!

Henipolis laugh.

Then a perceptive man among them said, “He is Tolmides, a staff officer of the kingdom's Army Staff. He is also a hero who once followed His Majesty to Persia!”

Tolmides was confident that whoever had said that must have been an officer from the early days of the Theonian Legion, perhaps even a former mercenary comrade of theirs. How else could a commoner have known about him, someone who wasn't prominent in the kingdom and rarely appeared in public? At least he knew from the records that some officers had chosen to settle in Laos.

He glanced at the crowd by the side of the road but didn't see anyone he recognised. Suddenly he heard someone shout, “Who is that guy hiding his face with a visor next to His Majesty?! He looks so strange.”

Tolmides laugh twice as it's now his turn to watch the excitement.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted loudly, “People of Laos, do you still remember the person who gave up his privilege as the lifetime archon and willingly requested the kingdom to incorporate Laos so that we could finally be liberated from oppression and live the life we have today?”

“It's the kind Lord Henipolis! Everyone, don't forget that he was the one to donate money to build most of the arenas, baths, libraries…and so on in the city of Laos!” Another voice shouted.

During the Senate's discussions about the integration of Laos into the kingdom, they considered that Laos was previously private property under the independent rule of the House of Henipolis. And since it was also the first city to voluntarily request integration into Theonia, setting an excellent example for other allied cities. As a result, the Senate passed an act rewarding Henipolis by granting him two per cent of Laos' annual tax revenue (with Davos playing a role). However, Henipolis donated all of this money to Laos to repair and build public works to compensate for his previous mistakes.

“Yes, I remember Lord Henipolis was determined to give us more rights and freedom when he was the archon of Laos, but his uncle and a group of Laosian nobles opposed him and almost killed him…”

“We should have long expressed our gratitude to Lord Henipolis. We owe him too much!”

“I heard that Lord Henipolis is now the clerk of His Majesty Davos, so he should also be in this group, right?!”

“Lord Henipolis!”

“Lord Henipolis!!”

“Lord Henipolis!!!”

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

The cheers from the sidewalk gradually merged, and Henipolis' mood fluctuated. He then looked at Davos gratefully, “Your Majesty, thank you!”

Having followed Davos for so long, he could certainly guess that the reason the people of Laos had done such a thing must have been due to the Intelligence Department.

“You deserve it!” Davos then said earnestly, “Even if I hadn't done so, the people of Laos had never forgotten what you have given to them. It's time for you to forget your previous mistakes and meet the people of your hometown so we can better our communication and help them in the future!”

Davos' words encourage Henipolis. After nodding, he took a deep breath and took off his visor and helmet determinedly.

“It's Lord Henipolis!!”

“All hail Lord Henipolis!!!”

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

Then more cheers erupted around.

Amidst the cheering, Davos whispered to his son, “As you can see, it is easy to satisfy the common people. And as long as you do good things for them, they will always remember and overlook your mistakes…”

Crotokatax listened to his father's teachings while watching the crowd flowing along the road with a glint of envy in his eyes…

“Your Majesty, Ariandos has come!” Martius, the captain of the royal guards, rushed over and reported.

Davos looked ahead and saw the city praetor, Ariandos, with a group of officials walking towards the marching army.

“It seems we took so long that Ariandos couldn't wait anymore at the gate.” Davos looked at Henipolis and smiled, “Or maybe he wants to see you earlier, Heni.”

Ariandos was the trusted follower of Avinoges in the tribe back then and also the most loyal minister of Henipolis. After Theonia annexed Laos, the Senate elected him to be a statesman to stabilise Laos' political situation. However, following a special law of the Senate, ‘The statesmen of a newly joined city to the kingdom shall not immediately become a praetor of their mother city’. Thus it wasn't until a decade after the Senate had confirmed that Theonia had fully absorbed the people of Laos and that the city near the centre of the kingdom no longer posed a danger that they lifted the ban and allowed Ariandos to take up the position as the praetor of Laos, with the help of Henipolis, of course.

Henipolis also snapped out of his excitement and said smilingly, “Before our departure, Ariandos wrote to me and told me that he became excited and nervous when he heard that Your Majesty was coming. He wanted to lead the officials of Laos to hold a grand welcome banquet for you but was afraid you would reject and criticise him…”

“Since Ariandos had done well in continuing the policies of his predecessor and made some improvements, and the officials have developed Laos well over the past two years, I will definitely attend tonight's banquet. But they shouldn’t be too extravagant and wasteful.” Davos smiled and replied positively.

Theonia's military code states that they shouldn’t hold or attend banquets while the army is on a campaign, but Davos was not only the army commander but also the king of Theonia. So apart from leading the army into battle, he also had some political duties. Whether it was honouring the achievements of the officials of Theonia or showing the royal family's affection and winning the people's hearts, he had to attend. Moreover, since becoming King of Theonia, Davos had never officially inspected another city in the kingdom. And since Laos was the only city in the kingdom that he would be visiting on his expedition to Latium, attending the banquet, enjoying the company of the officials and citizens, and sharing some of his own hopes for the kingdom with the officials and citizens was of great interest to many of them who had never met the King.

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

While Davos led his army to Laos, some soldiers of the Third Legion and the Second Cavalry Legion had already left on a transport ship in Neapolis and sailed into the port of Circeii in Volsci after receiving their orders.

The high officials of the Volscians who came to greet them saw ships full of soldiers docking at the port. It's as if they have taken a strong medicine that relieved them from their worries about Rome's attack. Then they begin to discuss, “It seems that Strategos Amintas' words about Theonia launching a massive attack on Rome and rescuing our Volsci are true!”

So they became even more enthusiastic towards the Theonian legionaries who landed.

Amintas, the Legatus of the First Legion, also rushed from the Legion's base to greet his comrades as soon as he heard the news. So as soon as Litom, the Legatus of the Third Legion, landed, he greeted him eagerly.

“Legatus Amintas!” Litom hurriedly saluted as soon as he saw him. Although they held the same rank now, Amintas had already been a high-ranking officer in the army when Litom first joined. Not only was Amintas a veteran and had outstanding military achievements, his prestige in the Theonian army far surpassed Litom's. So even the most unruly of men showed him the respect he deserved.

“You are finally here! I've been troubled for the past few days!” Amintas bumped Litom in the chest excitedly and grinned, “It's time to start the battle! Litom, gather your legions and come with me to the camp to discuss the strategy for the next battle.”

“Okay.” Litom, who dislikes socialising, answered simply. After reluctantly dealing with the Volscian high officials who had come to greet him, he led the Third Legion and some soldiers of the Second Cavalry Legion to follow Amintas to his camp.

During this period, the Roman army in Volscian territory began to retreat quickly, focusing their attacks on the Hernicans, causing the fighting between the Volsci and Rome to ease temporarily. Afterwards, the entire territory was left empty, with the Volsci sending troops to rescue the Hernicans. Hence, the Volscian high officials consulted with Theonia's First Legion legatus, Amintas, who agreed to move the camp northward to protect more Volscian villages. The Theonian camp was now located northwest of Setia, only ten kilometres from the heavily fortified Roman garrison at Satricum.

Amintas demanded that Litom lead the Third and Second Cavalry Legions to march as quickly and covertly as possible so as not to be discovered by the Romans on the other side. He also sent someone ahead to notify the First Cavalry Legion to leave the camp and drive out the Roman scouts to prevent information leakage.