Just when Phidias became impatient, Davos returned with Henipolis. Before Phidias could speak, Davos spoke as soon as he saw him in the tent, “I remember you, Phidias of Sparta! You had come to Thurii's Senate as Sparta's envoy ten years ago to falsely accused me of hiding the mercenary soldiers of the Persian expedition and threatened that ‘Sparta would teach Theonia a hard lesson’. I still remember what you said to this day.”
Phidias was surprised as he didn't except Davos would mention the events of that year to him as soon as he entered. If he still had his previous temperament, Phidias would angrily say, ‘Yes, I did say those! The fact that there was a war with Crotone afterwards proves that Theonia was hiding those mercenaries!!’
But times had changed, and Sparta's current predicament had forced him to choose his words with caution. Phidias wasn't someone ignorant of politics, but the might of Sparta before made him not required to overthink. Now Theonia's position in the western Mediterranean and Davos’ might he showed in the war made Phidias feel a slight fear. So the always unyielding Spartan actually said, “…that…that was just a misunderstanding…”
“Misunderstanding?! No! I don't think so!!” Davos stared him that it seemed to pierce his heart, “It's because of your grudge against Theonia that you accepted Sparta's order to serve as a military advisor in Syracuse, followed Dionysius in his invasion of Magna Graecia, commanded Syracuse's right-wing in the Battle of Allaro River, defeat the Crotonians, and commanded the right-wing again in the Battle of Crotone in order to try to defeat my Theonian army… Phidias of Sparta, the blood of Magna Graecians soaked your hands!”
Phidias was inwardly shocked when he heard that, as he didn't expect that Davos would know his actions in Magna Graecia during this time. However, he responded to Davos' accusation without reluctance, “I think you must have misunderstood. Dionysius was afraid of your Theonian army, so he hoped Sparta could send him an officer to help him while Sparta couldn't refuse as their ally. Thus the Gerousia sent me to help Dionysius as I had been to Sicily several times, and I am familiar with Dionysius… I am just doing my duty!”
“Your duty?! Is it to help Syracuse slaughter the people of Magna Graecia?! Is this the attitude of Sparta towards our Magna Graecia?!!” Davos sneered with a bit of anger, “In that case, don't blame our warriors' shield and spear for not having eyes!”
“To die on the battlefield is the greatest honour of every Spartan!” Phidias wasn't afraid of Davos' threat. However, with Theonia having turned the tide of battle, he had to consider Theonia's perception of Sparta. Thus he defended Sparta by saying, “Lord Davos, you should know that when Sparta allied with Syracuse, it did not think that Syracuse would one day declare war on Magna Graecia. And because of our alliance, Sparta had to provide help even though Sparta truly wanted peace between Sicily and Magna Graecia! Thus I had come here on behalf of Sparta this time in hopes that you can seriously consider Dionysius' proposal and end this war that had caused countless casualties!”
“I am touched that the Spartans, who live by fighting and killing, cared so much about the life and death of the Magna Graecians.” Davos sneered.
Davos noticed the threat hidden in the Spartan's words, so he firmly said, “You Spartans had already sent an envoy a few days ago, Cheirisophus, to Thurii to get Theonia to surrender to Syracuse. But I made it clear to him that ‘Theonia will never negotiate under the enemy's pressure and that we Theonians will fight to the death as long as there is an enemy on our land!’ At that time, the Battle of Crotone had not yet happened. Now that we, Theonians, are dominant in this war, I can assure you that a truce is possible. However, the Syracusans must pay for the crime of invading Magna Graecia! We won’t allow Dionysius to escape back to Sicily easily without paying any price!”
Davos' glaring gaze made Phidias feel his uncompromising will, but he felt no frustration as this was just to verify his thoughts. His primary purpose in coming to Theonia's camp wasn't to promote a truce between the two sides, but to…
“I think Dionysius is prepared for this,” Phidias replied faintly. He then changed the topic, “Lord Davos…what do you think of the war taking place in Corinth now?”
Davos was dumfounded but immediately understood the Spartan's intent, “You mean the war between Sparta and Corinth, Thebes, Argos and Athens…?” Davos sneered and said, “It's just a meaningless war that has nothing to do with Theonia, so there is no need to know about it.”
“Theonia has signed a friendly agreement with Athens, and you often trade with Corinth.” Phidias stared at Davos as he bluntly pointed it out.
“A friendly agreement is not a military alliance agreement. As long as any city-state is willing to have friendly trade with Theonia, we are willing to sign such an agreement, even Sparta.” Davos then continued, “Greece doesn't have fertile land nor rich minerals, so there is nothing worth it for the Theonians to go far from their warm homeland to participate in a war that has nothing to do with us. Besides, the Theonians roots are in Magna Graecia! And we still have a lot of problems within our alliance that need time and energy to solve and deal with. Thus as long as they don't provoke us, we Theonians have no intention of participating in your messy war!”
Phidias looked at Davos' face without blinking as he felt that Davos had said those words from the bottom of his heart, so he said, “Would you like to sign a friendly agreement with Sparta?”
“Sparta is now Theonia's enemy and Syracuse's ally!” Davos said coldly.
Phidias no longer spoke.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Watching the guards ‘escorting’ Phidias out of the tent, Henipolis couldn't help but say, “Your majesty, does this Spartan want Sparta to ally with us?!”
Davos touched his chin and said, “…Theonia's strength had exceeded the Spartan's expectations, so he is afraid that Theonia would join in the war in Corinth, which would be bad for Sparta.”
“So will we do that?!” Henipolis excitedly asked as he was happy to give the Spartan a headache.
“What do you think?” Davos said with vagueness.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
As the early morning mist filled the Sybarite plain, the earl spring drizzle fell.
The victory at the Battle of the Gulf of Taranto gave the people of Theonia hope that they would win this war. Furthermore, Davos leading the army himself to battle boosted their confidence and made this fertile land finally come alive.
After several months of blockage, the port finally reopened, and with the arrival of foreign merchant ships, the port workers had finally something to do. Most of the first transport ships to enter the docks were filled with grains and other foodstuffs. Naturally, the clever merchants knew what the Theonians needed most at this time.
The elderly fishermen of Thurii (the young men had gone to work as sailors in the fleet) set sail early to catch fish to meet the people’s immediate needs and earn a good profit for their families.
At the urging of the village chiefs and agricultural officials, the people in various villages began replanting fast-maturing crops to avoid missing this year's harvest.
Although most of the young and strong citizens and freemen were conscripted due to the war, resulting in a lack of labour, the numerous prisoners filled this gap. From time to time, whether it was in the marsh plain of Krimisa, the Sybarite plain of Thurii or the mountains of Amendolara, half-starving naked prisoners could be seen. Under the intimidation of the guards' leather whips and spears, the naked prisoners could only laboriously plough the land. The Theonians showed no compassion and no desire to make the prisoners rest even when they shivered due to the cold rain, which could have made them ill. ‘Since they invaded Theonia, they have to pay a heavy price’ was the common view of many Theonians.
It wasn’t only the Thurians and Amendolarans that had filled the roads leading to the port of Thurii, but also Besidisians and Roscianums who hurried to the port market with their wagons and carts in order to buy food.
At this moment, a cavalry came galloping. But before the rider in an eye-catching bright red armour could shout, “Make way!” the pedestrians already consciously retreated to the roadside because they knew that those dressed like that would only be messengers from the battlefield, carrying important military information. Thus no one was allowed to stop them, or they would be breaking the law.
The horse blew white air as its hooves dashed, causing the water on the road to splash and wet the clothes of the pedestrians. Still, the pedestrians did not complain. Rather, they couldn't help but ask, “Have we defeated the Syracusans?!”
The worried pedestrians asked casually without expecting the messenger would tell them anything. Yet, the messenger raised his right hand and shouted excitedly, “Victory! We are victorious! His majesty Davos led the army to defeat the Syracusans in Crotone!…”
