Chapter 324: Midday Break at the Akademia of Theonia
The speed of the Bruttian cavalry slowed down, but once they stopped, they would be an easier target. In the dust, the cavalry was frightened as besides defending against the javelins thrown by the enemy, they also had to be careful not to be tripped by their fallen comrades.
Seeing their comrades behind them in disarray, those who had already charged ahead had to turn around and charge at these Theonian light infantry to extricate their comrades from their plight.
Epiphanes soon notice the enemy’s attack, but rather than evacuating with the soldiers, he took some of his peltasts to meet them, knowing that the most terrifying is the charge of the cavalry instead of the spears in the cavalrymen’s hand, which would either break or seriously injure the light infantry who had little protection. In fact, a dense spear formation was the best way to stop a cavalry charge, but the light infantry was not equipped with this and did not have the time to prepare.
In the face of the fierce Bruttian cavalry, Epiphanes and the experienced former Thracian peltasts unhurriedly untied the rope on the javelins.
“Throw!” Epiphanes threw out his javelin with a roar, which then flew straight in a flash, piercing deeply into the neck of the horse in front of him.
The horse neighed miserably and thrashed around, throwing the cavalryman off his horse.
With this round of throwing from the peltast, many cavalrymen were thrown off their horses. But rather than watching the effect of their attack, they instead quickly took out their rhompaia and raised the leather shield on their left hand, squatted on the ground in a bow and arrow stance. Watching the enemy cavalry who had rushed to the front, they quickly rolled to either the left or right. And if they do not have the time to dodge, they would fall to the ground, shrinking their body into a ball and protecting their heads and chests with their shields to block the trampling of the horses. And if they were to see an opportunity, they would cut the horse’ legs with their rhompaia, frightening the horses and throwing off their riders.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When the Bruttii cavalry was in trouble, the troops led by Cid already clashed with the light infantry of the Bruttii.
The numerous arrows crisscrossed in the air as dense as a thick cloud and rained down on both sides, taking away lives.
After a few rounds, the Bruttian light infantry could no longer hold on. After all, Theonia concentrated all their archers on the left, not comparable to those of the Bruttian light infantry, which they distributed evenly.
But in the centre and the right flank of the Theonian army, the Bruttian light infantry can freely shoot their arrows at the Theonian soldiers and even throw javelins within fifty metres.
The Theonian legion soldiers erected long shield walls and used their thick bronze shields and iron helmets to block the enemy’s long-range attack.
And the officers shouted, “Hold on! Hold on! Take your time!…” Preventing the soldiers from throwing their javelins impulsively as it will not only arouse the enemy’s vigilance but will also disrupt the overall defence of the team, resulting in an unnecessary increase of casualties.
Fortunately, after the Bruttian infantry got closer, the light infantry had to retreat quickly through the gap between the infantry’s formation and to the rear. Otherwise, they would have been swept up by the infantry to the frontline and fight face to face with the heavily armed Greek heavy infantry.
And the Bruttian infantry finally started charging and roaring as they rushed towards the Theonian formation that is ready to meet them.
Compared to the aggressive Bruttian warriors, the Theonian soldiers were as calm as a mountain, holding the javelin in their hands and focusing their gaze on the enemy in the distance.
Then the officer shouted, “Javelin!”
On the left, the middle and the right flanks, dark clouds rose on the four-kilometre long army formation one after another.
The charging Bruttians were caught off guard, and the sharp javelin instantly taking the lives of hundreds of warriors. However, the rain of javelins did not slow down the Bruttian warriors, stepping over the corpses of their comrades and advancing much faster, so much so that many Theonian soldiers had not had the time to throw a second javelin before the Bruttians slammed into the shield wall of the Theonian army, instantly causing countless gaps to appear in the shield wall.
The Bruttian warriors bravely rushed in, trying to widen the gap, while the third and fourth lines of Theonian soldiers quickly raised their shields to meet the enemy and drove them back with their spears.
For a moment, the soldiers of both sides collided with each other, spears and spears collided, dust fog filling the sky and the sounds of fighting shook the sky…
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As the midday sun casts its shadow on the tiny sundial, Onatas, who was in charge of teaching Greek, announced that the morning class was over.
While the children were cheering, he seriously said, “Children, I hope that you will read the poem of Hesiod once you go home, preferably to be able to recite it by heart. As for these new words I taught, you must memorise them as I will check them tomorrow. Have you remembered them all?!”
“Yes, teacher!” The students answered in unison.
“Especially you, Patroclus.” Onatas pointed to the child sitting in the distance and warned, “Go back this time and have your meal. However, I don’t want to see you being punished again tomorrow, understand?”
Patroclus lowered his head in embarrassment.
And the students around burst into laughter.
Patroclus’ poor performance in Greek class was in complete contrast to his fast and accurate problem-solving in math class.
Onatas then went out of the classroom, and the students cheered and ran out in succession.
Sthephilos grabbed Patroclus by the arm and urged, “Hurry uP! If we’re late, there will be nothing left!”
The two of them rushed out of the classroom, but just as soon as they reach the corner, they heard an “ouch”, and a little girl was knockdown on the ground.
“Hey, are the two of you blind?!” Cynthia scolded, bent down and asked with concern, “Giada, are you okay?”
“I…I’m alright.” Giada replied weakly.
Cynthia pulled her up and turned to look at the two boys with a fierce glare, “Get over here and apologise! Otherwise, you are not allowed to leave!” Although Cynthia is younger, the two boys who are extremely active in class seems to be afraid of her and bowed in a hurry, “We’re sorry, Giada, it’s because we were…”
“I’m fine. You guys can go and buy your buttercream bun, or else you will miss it if you are late.” Instead of getting angry, Giada reminded them softly.
The two boys were relieved and ran away quickly, while Patroclus did not forget to glance at Cynthia and quickly looked away.
Cynthia grunted, “Giada, you are too nice. If it were me, I would never let them off lightly!”
Giada smiled and patted the dust off her body.
“Oh right! Come to my house for lunch today and eat a real buttercream bun!” Cynthia suddenly remembered something and invited her, “My mother told me to bring you home at noon when I left home this morning!”
Giada stopped talking and nod shyly.
Usually, sports classed were scheduled at noon in Theonia’s Akademia: Simple military training, rugby and football matches for the boys, while running, jumping and playing some games for the girls, it is why their free time at noon is not long.
Besides the children in Thurii who have the time to go home for lunch, children whose home are far away could only deal with their stomach problems from nearby. Fortunately, with the expansion of the Akademia’s influence and the increasing number of students, teachers, guards and other personnel, merchants and street vendors saw business opportunities. They set up shops in the designated area outside the school to sell papyrus, stationery, clothes, food…and the most famous is the small restaurant built here by the archon’s wife, Cheiristoya, as they provided students with lunch at a low price. And the most popular food for the students recently is the newly launched buttercream bun. Every day, students and even the teachers line up to buy it, causing the demands to exceed the supply.
As classmates in the same classroom, Cynthia and Giada soon became good friends, and when Cynthia invited her to her home for the first time, she was treated with great hospitality by Cheiristoya. Especially after finding out that Giada is the adopted daughter of Alexius, an old comrade of Davos and a senior centurion of the first legion and a statesman of the Senate(Alexius has always lived in Amendolara and has not moved to Thurii). Cheiristoya warmly invited her to the house for lunch every day, and this hospitality brought her and Cynthia closer together as mother and daughter.
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The delta between the Crati River and the Cosceli River was originally a settlement for the slaves of Thurii, a collection and storage area for stone and copper workshops and a washing area. The security was not only bad, but the environment is also poor, and a lot of waste was poured into the two rivers every day.
After Davos came to Thurii and saw this situation, he discussed it several times with Kunogelata and Marigi on how to govern this area.
In the end, they moved the union’s public slave settlement to the military camp in the north of the main city of Thurii, which not only kept it away from the residential area of Thurii but also had the nearby military camp to monitor them. So that if there was any abnormality, the army could immediately suppress it. At the same time, the stone workshop was moved to the market next to the port, while the copper workshop was moved to the new economic development zone near Amendolara at the beginning of the year and was next to the Saraceno River so that it could get enough personnel nearby and form a good interaction with other workshops. However, the most important thing is that the Crati and Cosceli Rivers, which are related to the life and health of tens of thousands of people in Thurii, are free from pollution.
Afterwards, Davos planned the vacated land as the cultural centre of the whole Theonia Union. Hence, the established Akademia of Theonia Akademia, and the Theonia School Park, which represents the union’s highest scientific and cultural level, is under construction. Herpus, the head of Thurii’s hospital, will also build a medical school within the Akademia, while Metoticles will also move the Institute of Mathematics, and Ansitanos plans to set up a historical research group.
In order to ensure that the students and teachers can study and research at ease, Davos also asked Heracleides the younger to build another wooden bridge in the middle of the Cosceli River so that the frequent traffic and ore carrying wagons can pass through the north of the delta. And Heracleides the Younger is already working on building an actual stone bridge directly between the north and south part of Thurii.