Chapter 280: Conflict
The Theonian camp was, after all, close to the city of Taranto and are far away from the battlefield that they did not need to construct it in a very complex and fortified manner. Therefore, the next day when Davos attended the war meeting, the whole camp was at rest. According to the military law, one man from each squad would be allowed to go out during non-wartime and return by sunset.
But now that they are in a state of semi-combat and it is uncertain when the army will go to the battlefield. So, Antonios, who also served as the military officer, issued an order: ‘All the soldiers who go out can only roam around the camp and return at once, once you hear the salpinx.’
While the soldiers that were staying in the camp were not idle, as most of them were keen on some confrontation games organised by the upper rank of the Legion: Tug of war, Rugby, Football…and so on., which made the soldiers happy, but there is one thing that is forbidden, gambling, once found, they would be dealt according to the military law.
The reason why the soldiers were going out was to see the famous city in South Italia – Taranto. After all, most of them were not merchants nor wealthy people, so they had to work in the fields all year round and have no time to travel to Taranto, which is only one gulf away. However, since the stipulation does not allow them to enter Taranto, they could only visit the makeshift market in front of the camp.
Hence why the merchants in Taranto began calling to them.
“Come take a look! The skin of a hippopotamus, a divine creature from the great eastern nation – Egypt! Look at how thick it is! See, even if we were to slash it with a knife twice…there’s not even a mark on it! If you use this to make leather armour, it would not only be light but also strong, so you don’t have to worry about getting hurt in battle!”
“Brother, have you ever seen such a straight sword? Look, it has a sharp edge on both sides, and it’s very sharp!…it doesn’t matter, hold it and try it out…isn’t it a bit heavy? This is a short sword used by the natives of the Iberian Peninsula, and it is said that the reason why the Carthaginians have not been able to conquer the Iberian Peninsula is due to suffering from this weapon!”
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In order to earn the soldier’s money, the most important thing in this small market is to sell weapons, followed by food.
“Try this date from Libya. It’s small but very sweet, much sweeter than a fig!”
“Ostrich meat from Bedouin! You haven’t tasted it? Come and have a taste!…what is an ostrich?…erm, I will tell you, it is the biggest bird that I have ever seen. It’s as big as a horse, but it cannot fly and can only run. But it can run faster than a horse in the desert!”
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As the famous trading city-state in Magna Graecia, Taranto had a more prosperous and more diverse range of goods than Thurii, as could be seen even in this makeshift market.
The soldiers wandered around with great interest, but they did not just walk around without buying, as citizens and preparatory citizens of Theonia, they were allocated land which was enough to feed and clothe them while selling their extra grain and livestock at the market for extra money, plus the share of spoils of war after every battle they won, hence why their pockets were still relatively full.
Olivos was also one of the people who asked to go out while temporarily handing over the military affairs to his adjutant and strolled in the makeshift market to relax.
At this time, he stood in front of a metal ornament booth, picked up a palm-sized gold ornament and looked at it carefully.
“This is a statue of Horus, an Egyptian god, carved from the hands of a famous master carver of the Temple of Memphis. See how exquisite the carving is? Wear it, and you will be blessed by Horus!” The merchant highly recommended it.
Olivos gently shook his head, put the thing down and said regretfully, “It is good, but I only believe in Hades.”
“Hades won’t blame you for worshipping other gods occasionally, and they handle different aspects…” The attitude of the Greeks towards the gods is close, but they are not obsessed with them, as they believed in multiple gods; when going out to sea, they would worship the god of the sea, when in battle, they would worship the god of war, in business, they would worship Hermes, and in competitions, they would worship Apollo…that’s why the merchant tries to persuade him.
But Olivos shook his head and left the stall.
The merchant was so angry that he cursed behind Olivos’ back, “The Theonians are blockheads!”
If it had been before, Olivos would have turned back and argued with the merchant, but now he understood that his identity was now different, and he couldn’t even care.
Further on, he saw some big tents set up in front of them, and in front of the tents stood some beautiful women, while a fat merchant called out, “The cheapest price! The most comfortable enjoyment! Just for five drachmae, you can have a good time with the most beautiful girl in Taranto…”
Olivos frowned; ever since that incident happened in Persia, he has changed his ways. And now, whenever someone mentions the word “prostitution”, he felt disgusted.
He turned around and walked back, but Timias took a fancy on him, rushed to him, grabbed him and shouted, “Don’t go, seven drachmae for two girls. What do you think? This is already a big loss for me!”
Olivos said nothing, and with a strong wave of his left hand, it caused Timias to fall back and sat down on the ground.
After a long time of hard work and no business, the theatre owner of Taranto finally got angry and stood up and swore, “Damned Theonians! A bunch of country bumpkins! You don’t even know how to enjoy happiness! What military law! I have never heard that in Taranto’s army. That is just a piece of crap that your lowly archon has come up with for the convenience of ruling you! He wants you to have no freedom, no democracy, and only obedience to his orders! If you don’t resist it, then you deserved to be ruled by a dictator and just obey him like slaves!…”
Olivos, who heard it, was boiling with rage and strode over.
When the other soldiers on the side also heard these words, they all became furious: This fat man had insulted not only them but also insulted their grand legatus!
In an instant, Timias was surrounded.
Timias looked at the furious faces in horror and screamed, “What do you want to do?! This is Taranto!-”
Before he could even finish speaking, Olivos said, “Beat him!” While throwing a right fist first, directly to Timias’ fat face…
The Tarantines in the market heard the scream from the encirclement of the Theonian soldiers, but no one dared to stop them.
Then came a salpinx sound at the right time.
“It’s the assembly call!” The soldiers exclaimed.
All the soldiers in the makeshift market put down the things they were doing almost at the same time and quickly ran back to their camp, and in a flash, there was no more Theonian in the market.
The speed at which the Theonian soldiers returned to camp was as if the previous commotion was just a dream, and only the theatre owner was lying on the ground groaning…
When the gate of the camp opened again, a heavily armed army came out, marching out from the three camp gates: east, north and the south, at the same time, thus speeding up their exit.
The merchants of Taranto were equally surprised at the sight of these Theonian soldiers, who were previously joking in the market, but this casualness did not affect their tidiness and speed of movement.
The two legions left the camp, but they did not leave it unmanned. There was also a reserve of soldiers from the logistics camp and a thousand or so Theonian freemen as a supplement of the legion, who usually serve as guards and helpers of the logistics camp, will also participate in battles at critical times. Even though the tasks of these reserve soldiers are also complicated and arduous, countless freemen still scramble to join them every time they go to war because these will help the freemen to accumulate their merits and shorten the time needed to become a preparatory citizen.
As a matter of fact, in addition to the soldiers of the seventh brigade, there are also the medical camp, engineering camp, logistics camp and reconnaissance camp…their real number far exceeds 7,000. If they march in Theonia, Davos will do his best to arrange the marching column even if the queue would extend the troops very long because the smooth and solid road system of Theonia would speed up their marching. But the suburbs of Taranto, the wealthiest city-state in South Italia, were surprisingly all dirt roads, and it is the same wherever they go. Thus, Davos simply divided the army into four groups, with each group having five columns*, and marched forward in a wide front.
The road was dusty and noisy.
Many Tarantines watched by the roadside, while having mixed feelings in the face of the mighty Theonian army, but in a time of crisis of their city-state, reinforcements in such a large number and such appearance had given them a sense of security in a time of fear and uncertainty.
It wasn’t long before the Theonian army arrived outside Taranto.
When Umakas was informed, he was surprised by the speed at which the Theonian army assembled, knowing that the soldiers of Taranto were still currently gathering in the square.
Although Diaomilas was also surprised, he retorted, “The soldiers of Theonia are all in the camp, so they can immediately depart at the sound of the salpinx. Unlike us who still have to notify every town and every street…”
So Umakas had to rush out of the city, apologise to Davos and ask the Theonian army to wait outside the city for a while, while inviting Davos into the city to have a drink and rest at his residence. After all, it was still noon in early autumn, and the sun was still scorching hot.
However, Davos politely declined Umakas’ good intention. How could he leave his soldiers that are suffering while enjoying comfort alone?
Before long, Teriphias led a thousand Heraclian soldiers out of the city to join the Theonian army.
After a while, two thousand soldiers led by Taudeles had arrived as well.
Only after more than an hour did the city gate of Taranto open again, and the noisy wailings of people could be heard…
“Hmph! Are we going to the battlefield or to a cemetery?! Why are they all crying like that? We are just going to fight the aborigines!…” Because of the incident in the morning, Olivos didn’t have a good impression of the Tarantines, so when he saw such a messy farewell, he was filled with sarcasm.