Chapter 290: The Messapi-Peuceti alliances plea for armistice
In the end, the four men turned their gaze to the supreme commander of this joint army, Davos.
However, at this moment, Davos was in a dilemma: After Diaomilas’ unauthorised actions and the easy collapse of Heraclea and Metapontum had made him frustrated with such a joint operation and worried that pig-like allies would drag him down. Teriphias just wanted to take his army back to the city, while he himself wanted to immediately bring back his troops to Thurii. But doing so would undoubtedly destroy the alliance with Taranto and may also impact the image of “keeping promises” that Theonia has worked hard to build.
As he hesitated, the guard came in and reported that the Messapians had sent an envoy.
Everyone was surprised.
With a thought in his mind, Davos asked that the Messapian envoy be let in and to hear what he had to say.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Initially, after regrouping the routed soldiers and reorganising the army, the various archons of Messapi, led by Pasimeus, thought that although the final result of the battle was not very good, with the allied force choosing to retreat and the cavalry suffering heavy losses, the army of Taranto should have suffered even more severe losses. Therefore, the strength of their army compared with the army of Taranto, on the contrary, was more advantageous than before the battle. So in the next battle, they should take the initiative and continue attacking the Tarantines.
King Telemani of Peuceti, who had received complain by several Messapian archons, and whose failure to stop the reinforcements had led to the loss of a good opportunity, had expressed his strong opposition because the main force of the Greek alliance, the Theonian army, has a unique formation, is well-trained, and its combat strength is so terrifying that they could even repel the Peucetians who had the high grounds on the battle, so he fears that when they fight on the plain, the Messapi-Peuceti army would be even less of a match for the Greek alliance army with the Theonian army as the main force.
The Messapians archon, who knew more or less about the fighting strength of the Peucetians, felt that it was unbelievable that the always unruly Telemani would say such a thing.
At this time, Timogeras stood up to back up Telemani. He once again stressed the terrifyingness of the Theonian army that they were even able to beat the Alytian heavy infantry, who has a much thicker formation than the Theonian hoplites!
At the same time, he also reminded everyone that the Theonian hoplites could throw javelins, which cause significant damage to the infantry at a close range.
Finally, the expression of the archons had become grave.
Kaminus, archon of Uzentum, said worriedly, “I heard that Theonia is a huge city-state union on the other side of the Gulf, which governs more than five cities and many allied city-states, and that its strength is stronger than Taranto and that they could easily send tens of thousands of men to reinforce Taranto. Therefore, even if we finally defeat them, I think that they can still send tens of thousands of men more, but could we afford such losses?”
After a short silence, Pasimeus said slowly and helplessly, “Maybe we should make peace with Theonia…”
‘Peace?!’ Everyone looked surprised.
Only Telemani remained calm, and Pasimeus looked at him and sighed in his heart, ‘It seems that the Peucetians have little desire to fight, and if we continue the war, I am afraid that they will no do their best.’
Therefore, Pasimeus’ desire for an armistice began to grow stronger. He then stood to his feet and said thoughtfully, “The Theonians have never had any conflict with us and are far away. The only reason why they are at war with us is that they are the allies of Taranto and have come here to fulfil their agreement. Defeating us would not do any good to Theonia; on the contrary, it would result in casualties among their soldiers due to the battle. So if we offer an armistice, do you think Theonia would be willing to accept it?! As long as this powerful outsider leaves, there will only be one Taranto left, and later…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Timogeras, the archon of Alytia, volunteered to go to the Greek camp, and only after the guards confirmed that he was not armed did they allowed him to enter the military tent.
In addition to the guards, there are five Greek strategoi in the military tent, and Timogeras’ gaze fell on the youngest strategos, ‘He should be the archon of Theonia, and the one that forced the Messapi-Peuceti to send an envoy to the Greek camp – Davos!’
Out of caution, he nodded to the young strategos, then asked in Greek, “Are you Davos, the archon of Theonia?”
“Yes.” Davos nodded.
“It’s an honour to meet you!” Timogeras respectfully performed a Messapian greeting and then said, “I am Timogeras, Archon of Alytia. I am here to represent the Messapi-Peuceti alliance and have come as an envoy to discuss with you how to end this meaningless war.”
‘Sure enough, they want to negotiate peace!’ Although Davos was happy, he said with a calm tone, “I think you have got the wrong person to negotiate with. You should discuss it with the two archons of Taranto, lord Umakas and lord Diaomilas.” His body slightly moved sideways, and his left hand gestured to the two people at the rear.
“We have just defeated you, and you want to make peace?!” Diaomilas, who already hates the Messapians, was even more furious because as soon as Timogeras came in, he ignored Taranto, “Go back and tell your companions wearing animal skins that Taranto does not accept your peace! We are going to keep attacking and take back Brindisi! If you have the courage, you can try stopping us!”
“Defeated by you?” Timogeras sneered sarcastically, “You and I know who lost more in the previous battle. If this is considered a defeat for us, then we don’t mind having more. Without the timely reinforcements from the Theonians, I am afraid that you would have long been a corpse, and you actually have the gall to yell at me here!”
In the face of Diaomilas’ bark, Timogeras continued to say in a loud voice, “The warriors of Messapi and Peuceti are ready to kill the enemies who dare to invade our territory even if we sacrifice our lives! I just don’t know if the Tarantines has such courage as well?”
After he finished speaking, he did not wait for Diaomilas to retort and immediately turned to face Davos again and said, “The bravery of the Theonians has won the respect of the Messapians. And Telemani, the king of Peuceti, admires you very much, and he specially asked me to greet you on his behalf! Just that, I would like to ask lord Davos, the Theonians crossed the Gulf and fought against us who had no conflicts and contradictions in the past. If you win, you won’t get any benefits, but if you lost, your bones would be buried in a foreign land. Is it worth it?”
Davos was very well aware that the archon of Messapi had come in and kept using various ways to separate the relationship between Theonia and Taranto. So he said and emphasise, “Taranto is a friendly ally of Theonia, and it is Theonia’s duty to abide by the agreement and assist our allies in defending against foreign aggression! Besides, Theonia has an obligation to maintain the peace of the neighbouring Greek city-states, because only when there is no war in neighbouring land can the Theonians have a peaceful life.”
The words of Davos revealed his hope and ambition for Theonia.
Teriphias and Taudeles’ eyes lit up as they listened.
And Umakas was lost in his thought.
Timogeras’ expression changed slightly, and he understood the warning given to him by Davos. So he quickly responded, “Lord Davos, from what you have said, you are here to help Taranto resist the invasion. But the truth is that Taranto is not suffering from our Messapians’ invasion; we are just taking back our, Messapians’ land! Manduria is a city of the Messapi! Brindisi is also a city-state of the Messapi! Since the beginning of this year, the Tarantines have attacked our people’s land, taken Manduria and Brindisi, which belongs to us, killed countless Messapian warriors, and turned countless Messapians, including women and children, into slaves of Taranto! We fought back and just wanted to take back our own land and avenge our people! Lord Davos, you said that Theonia had an obligation to help its neighbours to maintain peace and resist aggression. Does it also include helping your allies to invade other city’s land and slaughter their people?!”
Timogeras’ words were so emotional that both Umakas and Diaomilas went pale, while Davos secretly praised him in his heart, ‘Smart, straight to the point!’
Davos immediately put on an awkward expression, “This…this…”
“Damn you Messapian, don’t act all pitiful!” Diaomilas angrily retorted, “Who has been invading who all these years?! Who is the real victim! Who has been running to Taranto every summer to loot food and kill people! This year we have only attacked in response to the call of vengeance and to collect the blood debt you have owed to Taranto over the years!”
In the face of Diaomilas’ strong rebuttal, Timogeras remained calm and said, “Why do we invade Taranto every year? The reason is very simple, this land of Taranto originally belongs to us Messapians! Hundreds of years ago, your ancestors took over this land and drove out the weak Messapians who lived here!”
“So what! Hundreds of years have already passed, and this land belongs to us, Taranto, now!”
“Since you can take it from us, then we, of course, can take it back!”
“Unfortunately for you, you could not! On the contrary, after a few years, Manduria will become a city-state of Taranto!”
“Diaomilas!” Umakas shouted, interrupting the two who were shouting at each other, as the two men had strayed from the subject of their argument, and the three archons headed by Davos were already showing impatience.
Umakas hurriedly said, “Messapi, you are not here to quarrel, are you?”
“Of course not, I came for peace! As lord Davos said, Messapi and Taranto have lost too many men in this war!” Timogeras immediately looked solemn.