A few days later, Kunogelata, who was lying in bed and was recuperating, heard a news about so of the slaves in the quarry in Thurii had caused an uprising. They then knocked down the guards that were supervising them and escape Thurii, and so of the slaves had actually fled to Andolara to ask for protection, and then an envoy of Thurii arrived to ask Andolara to return the slaves.
Currently, in the council of Andolara, the envoy of Thurii and the representatives of the slaves that have fled were glaring at each other.
Plesinas, a new strategos of Thurii, if Kunogelata was here, would surely recognize that this man was one of the main instigator inciting the people of Thurii to expel him. And right now, he is facing the statesn of Andolara and said loudly, “Andolara is the ally of Thurii, is this how you treat the envoy of your ally?! This is a humiliation having a lowly slave stand in the sa place as , a noble strategos! If Andolara does not respond in good faith to the request of Thurii, then Thurii will reconsider the agreent with Andolara!”
As soon as he said this statent, the statesn sitting in the wooden chairs in the city hall were in an uproar.
At this ti, Antonios, the inspector, stood up and said, “Dear envoy of Thurii, we have not yet begun discussing the request of Thurii, but unexpectedly, as soon as you ca in, you took the initiative to walk to the center of the council hall. So I have forgotten to remind you that your position is here.” Antonios pointed to a position at the front of the venue, “I had thought a noble envoy of Thurii should know more about diplomatic etiquette of city-states than us, and also, without any permission, foreign envoys should remain silent.”
And a burst of laughter ca from the statesn.
Plesinas wasn't embarrassed at all and then pointed at the slaves and continues to say aloud, “I have never heard of a lowly slaves sitting in on a great discussion regarding city-states! The council is a sacred place of the city of Andolara, how can a lowly slave desecrate it!”
“This is because, as a representatives of the slaves who had fled to Andolara, his demands are related to Andolara and Thurii. So I think it is necessary to let him speak out his demands, and let us noble people have a fair discussion and judge whether his request is reasonable. So, dear envoy of Thurii, are you going to keep on standing there so that our eting can't officially begin?!” Davos, who was sitting at the front and center of the eting place, had a calm tone and a sense of dignity which made Plesinas sit in his seat.
“Slave, you can now say what your demand is.” Exclaid Cornelius, the city's praetor and the rotating chairman of the council.
The slaves bowed respectfully and said, “I am Aristocrates, your excellencies. The first thing I want to make clear is that I am not born as a lowly slave. My father was a nobleman of Cyrenaica, he is mainly engaged in Silphium, with hundreds of slaves and a large farm. Eight years ago, my father took to Olympia by boat to watch the Olympics. But on our way, we have encountered so pirates…my father…my father was killed and I was sold to Thurii…*” (T/N: Also known as siplhion, it was a plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfu, aphrodisiac, or as a dicine. It was also used as a contraceptive by ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant.)
Aristocrates took a deep breath and suppressed his sadness, “I didn't complain too much in spite of my misfortune, as this might be the punishnt of the gods. In Thurii, I did my best to complete the work assigned by my master and had never slack. It wasn't until two months ago that the city-state gathered us together and took us to the rcenary camp, and you, your majesty, have stood before us and called on us to fight for Thurii.” Aristocrates saluted to him respectfully, “You also had said that ‘As long as we win, you will be free!’ For the sake of freedom, we, who have never taken arms, have taken up arms! For the sake of freedom, we, who have never killed any, have fought against the vicious Lucanians! And these vicious Lucanians are the one that have defeated Thurii, but freedom have made us fearless! We fought bravely, and when we won the war, we, who numbered two thousand has only a thousand left…”
Aristocrates inhaled gently and the new citizen statesn were in a daze, as if they were once more in the sa situation battling fiercely for life.
“We are waiting for that exciting mont to co, but what await for us were the cold swords and spears! Thurii was saved, while we were taken back to the dark and wet cave, carrying heavy ores. We protested, but we only got beatings and starvation…when we were in despair, we heard news that the slaves of the rcenaries who had fought together with us were now freeman, and might beco citizens of a city-state in the future. Why are the slaves that are the sa with us, and the sa as us that have fought for Thurii, but the results are completely different! So we are unwilling and we then attacked the guards of the mine, and fled here just to ask your majesty, does your oath in the na of the God still count?!”
Aristocrates' heart-warming narration moved the statesn that are present, and the council hall was silent for a mont, and only Plesinas shouted, “He is lying! They are not the slaves who had fought in the battle at all!!”
Antonios got up imdiately and said, “We have a way to prove whether they are the slaves who participated in the war. Because the freeman of Andolara had once fought together with them and had spent a day and night together, so they are familiar with them. I have sent them to the prison where the slaves are being held for identification, and I request that the representative of the freeman be allowed to testify in the council.”
“Agree!”
“Agree!!”
The statesn were in favor of it, and the opposition of Plesinas was completely drowned out.
Taking advantage of this free ti, Davos looked at Aristocrates with interest, he had a thick beard and a few scars on his face, his skin was dark and his figure was a little bent, but it still showed his young face, and so he asked, “What you asked just now, I will answer you in a mont. But I want to ask you this, judging from what you have just said, you are obviously well educated, so why did you beca a mining slave?” Well educated slaves like Aristocrates, whose prices were generally very high, would be a waste if they only do dirty and hard labor that ordinary slaves could do.
Aristocrates laughed bitterly, “I was originally bought by a rich rchant in Thurii to help him manage his vineyard and winery. I did a good job and have won his trust, and he also said that he would give my freedom…unfortunately, he died due to illness…his wife was soon married again, and my new master gave away free of charge to the city of Thurii, who were in short supply of mining slaves, so they took away…”
There must have been so complicated internal information in this, but seeing Aristocrates calm look and that he had already accepted his unpleasant situation from his expression. So Davos said with admiration, “What I think is that the gods are not punishing you, but are testing you!”
Aristocrates suddenly beca excited when he heard this, as he had obviously felt sothing out of his words.
At this mont, the representatives of the freeman entered the council hall. After they swore an oath to the gods, they then said the answer: these slaves that have fled were indeed the one that have participated in the battle!
Plesinas didn't agree so he stood up and retorted, “It's common for the city-state to have their slaves participate in battles! For example, Sparta often have the Helots fight together with them, and have won countless victories. Did the Sparta gave the Helots their freedom? Obviously not! With the years of friendship between Thurii and Andolara, and the busy trade during this period, I don't think that archon Davos would have made that promised! This slave is obviously lying! It is a Greek virtue to return a lost property back to its owner! So once again, I will ask the council of Andolara to return these slaves who belonged and are the property of Thurii, back to Thurii!”
The expression of Aristocrates changed slightly, and then looked at Davos.
Davos looked at the arrogant and inflexible Plesinas, and sneered in his heart, because this Thurian was subtly threatening him and Andolara!
Then he stood up with a serious expression on his face, and said to Aristocrates, “I can answer what you have just asked . I Davos. The promised made by the Archon of Andolara is like the burning flas of hell, which will never be extinguished! Yes, I have promise to give you your freedom after we are victorious! Because you are the slaves of Thurii, so I had asked Burkes to testify it, and asked him to write my promise on paper and return to Thurii for the strategoi to sign it. Before the battle began, when Burkes ca to try and persuade us back, so I had once again made him reaffird my commitnt to you, but I didn't expect that until this day, you are still in chains!”
Davos with a deep feeling of grief on his face, exclaid, “You have saved Thurii, and Thurii owes you! You helped the rcenaries, and so Andolara owes you! I will ask the envoy of Thurii to give back your freedom!”
As soon as Davos finished speaking, the statesn shouted out at the sa ti, “Give them their freedom! Thurian, since you have sworn to the God, you should give the freedom to these poor and respectable slaves!”
Plesinas looked flustered and said, “Thurii has never seen an agreent in giving them their freedom! I haven't seen it either! Lord Davos, you must have been mistaken! Yes, you must have made a mistake!”
Note: Silphium is said to be a kind of herb, which was abundant in Cyrenaica in ancient tis, and was used as a valuable feed to promote growth of livestock, as well as seasoning on foods. Most importantly, it was said that it could improve the stamina of n. Therefore, it was very popular in ancient diterranean countries and beca the pillar industry of Cyrenaica and made a lot of money, and it was even depicted in their coinage. Unfortunately, there were so many males in the diterranean who needed it that eventually, it beca extinct. Now there is no real Silphium.
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