“It seems that Davos is indeed blessed by the gods, as he had created another miracle!” Archytas sighed, his eyes were sincere without a hint of jealousy, but more on curiosity, “I want to know how Davos manage to beat Crotone!”
Marigi briefly told them about the process of the battle, and he emphasized that it was a night attack, and that the Crotonians were too proud and unprepared. They not only did not build a camp with seriousness, but also were drunk, which have made their surprise attack easier.
However, the statesn of Taranto were still shocked by the military talent of Davos. It was clear that the victory of the young Archon against the Lucanians was not a fluke, nor did he rely on the reinforcents that Taranto had sent.
The statesn of Taranto beca even more cautious to the envoys of Andolara.
One of the Archon, Umacas, said, “Andolaran, since you have already won, then what are you doing here in Taranto? Are you here to flaunt your achievents?”
“We, people of Andolara, have always been filled with respect to Taranto that have saved us! So we never dare think to show off!” Marigi bowed to them to show his respect, and then said, “We are here because Thuriii, who have lost their ho, and Andolara have ford a Union. Therefore, it is necessary to revise our agreent with Taranto.”
“What do you an?!!” There was an uproar in the Council, “The people of Thurii have ford a Union with you? What Union?”
“You sure that you, Andolarans, have not taken the land of Thurii by force? Just like how your leader have taken over Andolara!” Exclaid one of the statesn.
“I protest to what his lord has said!” Marigi shouted out angrily, “This is not only an insult to our Archon! But also an insult to Andolara! I can't believe that this ca from Andolara's closest ally!”
“Lord Diaomilas, what you have said is not right! On the day of the ecclesia in Andolara, I was there and witness it with my own eyes on how the people of Andolara warmly invited the rcenaries to beco their citizens!” Archytas stood up to defend Andolara.
Despite the affirmation of Archytas, Diaomilas still strongly retorted, “If it wasn't for the coercion of Andolara, then why would Thurii choose to unite with the weak and poor Andolara, rather than the rich and powerful Taranto?”
“Diaomilas is right. If it wasn't for Andolara's threat, then Thurii would have chosen Taranto!” Many of them imdiately agreed.
The people of Taranto think that they are the best! Marigi sneered in his heart, and imdiately wanted to refute them, but he was held back by Ansitanos, who stood up and said, “Esteed statesn of Taranto. I am Ansitanos, I was originally a strategos of Thurii, and I have visited Taranto a lot of tis in the past. So of you should know , such as lord Umacas and lord Disitimas…”
The statesman that he had nad had to nod.
“As a citizen of Thurii, I swear to Apollo that Andolara did not threaten Thurii with force! On the contrary, when the city of Thurii was occupied by Crotone, that it even made the people of Thurii thought that they had been abandoned by the gods and have even given up struggling. However, only the weak Andolara is the only one that have not yielded to the powerful Crotone, and even though the powerful army of the enemy ca to their border, they still adhered to their treaty with Thurii! When the city of Thurii was burned down, and we, the people of Thurii have lost our hos, and were threatened by wounds, disease and hunger, it was the people of Andolara that have co in ti to hep us selflessly! Seeing the atrocious cri of burning the city, that the Crotonians have committed, which is unheard of in the history of Greece, plundering all our things that we use to depend on in order to survive, without any punishnt. When they left, no other city-state of Magna Graecia ca out to uphold justice. Only the weak Andolara had dared to fight against the powerful Crotone, the enemy of Thurii and avenged us!
What other city-states can do the things that Andolara did to Thurii?! We, the people of Thurii, regard Andolara as our hero that have saved us, and we even regarded them as a family. Therefore, from the bottom of our hearts, we are willing to share one Archon and a Senate with the people of Andolara, and share the rights and obligations as its citizens. They are like a brother in a family, without making any distinction between us. Hence why it is a natural choice for us, the people of Thurii!…”
After listening to Ansitanos' warm words, the Council of Taranto fell into silence, and so even felt ashad.
After a while, the Archon, Umacas, said coldly, “Both Andolara and Thurii have united, and their strength is greatly stronger than before, and the prestige of Andolara alone can make the other city-states not dare invade them. It doesn't seem to make sense for you to talk about alliance with Taranto.”
Marigi put on a sincere expression and said, “Before we ca, Lord Davos had told again and again that ‘Taranto is the great benefactor of Andolara when we were in our most difficult situation! And if there would be any changes in Andolara in the future, our gratitude to Taranto will never change. I hope to have a long-term alliance with Taranto and to always be friends. We hope to have the opportunity to repay this kindness in the future!’”
The council of Taranto beca quiet again.
Another archon, Disitimas, stood up and said, “Now, let us have the two envoys from Andolara and Thurii to leave for the ti being while we discuss about the alliance.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Everyone, it is rumored that the Archon of Andolara, Davos, is a very young man. Young n are always energetic and full of ambition. He was a rcenary leader more than half a year ago, and now he is the Archon for life of two city-states. With such a fast rate of promotion, he is very similar to that man in Syracuse, Sicily! Hence why I don't trust him very much!” Diaomilas expressed his concern, “I am afraid that if we were to form an alliance with them today, then one day they will turn their spear against us, Taranto!”
The words of Diaomilas made the statesn laugh, “Diaomilas, you are too timid! As for the three~four thousand citizens of Andolara, as well as the thousands of citizens left in Thurii, I am afraid that they will only have less than ten thousand people, will Taranto be afraid of them?!! Are you really a man of Taranto?!”
“It is even a question whether Andolara and Thurii can survive the wrath of Taranto*. Do they still have the ti to think about other things?” (T/N: This should be Crotone)
In the laughter of the statesn, Diaomilas sneered at them, “Everyone, when Thurii was founded, our ancestors in the Council of Taranto have also mocked them like what you are all doing today. What is the result? We were defeated twice by the people of Thurii! But it seems that we have not learned our lesson!”
After hearing the words of Diaomilas, so of them were thinking, while the others were not worried, and so have even rebuke him, “That Thurii had the strong support from Athens, otherwise, we would have been the final winner! The current Andolara and Thurii are far from being compared with the old Thurii. Diaomilas, if Taranto even has to worry about this, then what are we still doing here? It would be better for us to immgrate as soon as possible!”
“I am just reminding everyone that Taranto needs to be vigilant against Andolara! Andolara has such an Archon with a shocking military talent, and now they have rged with Thurii. In the future, they may beco a strong city-state in the northern part of Magna Graecia, and cause trouble to Taranto. In order to prevent such a situation to happen, we must not support them, but should deliberately limit their developnt!” Said Diaomilas patiently persuading them.
Archytas stood up imdiately and said in a loud voice, “Since lord Diaomilas is afraid of Andolara, then it stands to reason that we should make them our ally more, because their Archon has always kept his promise. Whether it was when he was still employed by Thurii, in where he had still led the rcenaries to stay and then turned defeat into victory, even though Thurii was miserably defeated and faced the danger of encirclent by the Lucanian alliance. When the army of Crotone reach their city, they still didn't give up on their treaty with Thurii. All this shows that once the alliance with them is ford, Davos, as the archon for life, will not harm Taranto, but will even lend a helping hand when Taranto gets in trouble one day!”
Then, Disitimas said, “Archytas is right, statesn, don't forget who is the greatest threat to Taranto? It is not Andolara, it is not Thurii, but the ssapians who surround Taranto! The ssapians are hard to deal with, and those damned Athenians have taught them the tactics of the hoplites and armor making. Now, it is more and more difficult to deal with them every year. How many people they have killed, and how many farmlands that they have destroyed every year! Our roots and temples are here, not in Andolara, not in Thurii! We should know that Taranto has only one city, while the ssapians occupied most of Apulia. If they are allowed to grow in this way, we may lose all our lands outside the city and be trapped inside. This is the real reason why we advocate the establishnt of the Magnra Graecia defensive alliance! So, isn't it a good thing that Andolara and Thurii united?!”
There was a long silence among the statesn, and most of them beca serious.
In the end, “The Taranto – Thurii-Andolara alliance” proposal was passed. When the two sides concluded the treaty, although Taranto had promoted this new alliance as an ally with relatively equal strength, Thurii-Andolara still proposed that Taranto should still be the leader in future joint military operations.
Marigi and Ansitanos did not raise any objection. Hence, the treaty was concluded.
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