Chapter 449: Hades Sign
After many fruitless requests, the soldiers of Laos tore off their disguise and launched a brazen attack on the Lao fortress.
However, with the location of the Lao fortress is in a narrow section of the river bank and the mountain range, the Laos soldiers, could not take advantage of their large number. Tagru, on the other hand, led the more than 200 soldiers to defend stubbornly with the small but sturdy fortress.
The bloody battle lasted until the afternoon, yet the Laos army failed to break through the fortress. And after receiving a call for help from the Lao fortress, Nerulum’s praetor, Hemon, himself arrived in time with nearly two thousand soldiers that he urgently convened.
And when the Laos army saw the powerful enemy arriving, they could only retreat slowly…
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At this moment, the flames of war burn everywhere in Theonia, and the dark clouds become thicker and thicker. This made the people of Thurii feel fear as they frequently began gathering in two places: One is the Temple of Hades, hoping to get the blessing of this mighty king of the underworld to comfort their uneasiness. The other is the Nike Square in front of the Grand Senate Hall.
And they once again appealed to the Senate to let archon Davos be king. Because only in this way could Theonia tide over this difficulty, as Hades had already foreseen all of this!
This time, the public’s protest became obviously much bigger than the previous two days, causing the already panicking statesmen, due to the worsening situation, to not know what to do with the people’s protest.
“Plesinas! Look at what you have done! Stop your trick and calm down the people of Thurii. Otherwise, the Senate will not function properly, and everything will become a mess!” Kunogelata was finally unable to hold his anger at Plesinas.
“Lord Kunogelata, watch what you say. This is the oracle of lord Hades and the spontaneous appeal of the people. It has nothing to do with me! Rather than quarrelling with me here, you might as well think about how to satisfy the people and calm their anger!” Plesinas, the priest in charge of the Temple of Hades, resolutely retorted.
“Esteemed statesmen: In truth, it is not that big of a deal to make Lord Davos be the king. In the past few years, the position and role of Davos are already that of a king! The only thing he lacks is the title. Aren’t all of you expect for Lord Davos to come back sooner to help us defeat our enemies and save the union? In fact, since the establishment of the union, the people outside the hall and we depend greatly on Davos! And now that the cruel Syracusans are approaching us to turn our union just like Scylletium and make us suffer just like the Scylletians, Lord Davos, who has the blessing and protection of Hades, is the only one we can rely upon. So what are you still hesitating for?!” Marigi’s tempting words sent a shock through everyone’s heart.
While some statesmen ponder and the others wanting to refute, the entrance of the senate hall was pushed open, and the guard captain ran inside with incredible excitement on his face, “Milords, Thurii…Thurii is alive! Thurii is alive!”
“What are you talking about…Thurii is alive? Speak clearly!” Scambras shouted in dissatisfaction.
Kunogelata, however, took a few steps forward and asked in disbelief, “You mean that the fountain of Thurii is starting to produce water again?!”
“Yes, milord! Just as the people chanted, ‘Let Lord Davos be king’, the fountain was revived. And now, the spring water is flowing into the square!” Said the excited guard captain. Then he added, “Milords, this is a divine sign!”
The statesmen looked at each other in shock, including Marigi, Plesinas and Kunogelata. It is important to know that the Greeks attached the greatest importance to divine signs during this era of gods. Thus if they were doing ceremonies or praying and sudden abnormalities were to happen, such as wind, rain, thunder…and so on, they would regard it as a divine omen. After the Crotonians burned the old city of Thurii, the famed fountain of Thurii dried up for many years, but now, it has started producing water again! While most Greeks believed that spring water was under the jurisdiction of Poseidon, the god of the sea, some believed that it should be under the control of Hades because it comes from underground.
“Let’s go and have a look!” Unable to hide his amazement and curiosity, Kunogelata took the lead out of the senate hall without hesitation, followed by the other statesmen.
Even the crowd in front of the Grand Senate Hall ran to the outer edge of the square on the left side of the Grand Senate Hall, which is the location of the fountain of Thurii.
The people of Thurii once attached great importance to the spring, which lent its name to the city that they built a large pool around it. And in the water, there were several beautiful statues of the goddess of the spring and the nymphs dressed in revealing clothes, splashing and playing, arousing the people’s imagination. It became a place for the children to play, for the elderly to rest and relax, for men to talk about politics and for the female slaves to draw water. However, the flame not only destroyed the pool but also dried up the spring water. There were even rumours among the freemen that this was the gods’ punishment for the Thurians’ treachery.
So when they rebuilt the city of Thurii, Heracleides made the craftsmen build a circle of stone walls to enclose the spring’s outlet, making it look like a well and a nostalgic reminder of the past. A few years have passed since then, it has now become the most inconspicuous presence near Nike Square.
Currently, there are hundreds of people surrounding the place, and those who were previously worried about the union’s safety were now dancing with joy. But once they saw the group of statesmen such as Kunogelata arriving, they immediately began clamouring, “Esteemed lords, come and see! The great Hades has heard our cries and responded!”
“Even Hades agreed to make his descendant, our Davos, the king. So what are you still hesitating about?”
“Only by making Lord Davos be the king can we get Hades’ protection and drive the enemy out of our homes and restore Theonia’s peace!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Let’s all calm down for a moment and have us look at it first!” Kunogelata said loudly and patiently.
The crowd then quickly gave way.
As soon as Kunogelata stepped on the water, they saw that the half metre high “stone well” was now filled to the brim, and the water continued to gush out of the well, flowing to the Nike Square.
Kunogelata stretched his hand in: The water was clear to the bone, and he could feel a strong upward force on his palm.
‘It’s not fake. Thurii’s fountain is truly alive!’ Kunogelata withdrew his hand and wiped it on his clothes.
“The spring water is really sweet!” Marigi drank directly and praised loudly, attracting the other statesmen to follow suit.
Kunogelata looked at the quiet and clear spring water, which could almost reflect his face. He was confused whether this was really what the gods’ wished!
However, the crowd will not give the statesmen much time to think. Seeing their eager gazes, the statesmen knew that they must give them a clear answer today.
After a short and intense discussion, Kunogelata, on behalf of the statesmen, announced to the crowd, “People of Theonia, the Senate, after our discussion, accepts your request to elect archon Davos as…the king of the Theonia Union. This, of course, requires the permission of Davos himself!…”
But before Kunogelata could even finish his speech, the people were already cheering, “All hail, King Davos!!!…”
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Back in the Grand Senate Hall, most of the statesmen felt lost. Although Davos was the archon for life of Theonia, he, after all, has similar status as the Senate’s statesmen. But now, he suddenly became the king, a higher status than them, and this difference made them have a strong sense of loss.
Kunogelata coughed dryly, wanting to admonish everyone to cheer up and a have serious discussion on the important issue of “Davos as the king” and how to limit his power reasonably. But before he could even say anything, the guard captain came rushing again.
Kunogelata suddenly had a bad premonition. And sure enough, the guard captain anxiously said, “Esteemed lords, some ships of Syracuse’s fleet landed on the coast north of Roscianum. It is reported that hundreds of soldiers landed and were ready to attack our coastal towns and villages!”
Everyone became shocked, and the scene of Crotone’s fleet plundering the Theonian villages and towns would once again happen.
Fortunately, Davos had already considered the absolute advantage of the Syracusan fleet before this war happened. Thus he had already thought of such a possibility happening, so before he left, he ordered the Ministry of Military to make some deployments following their previous experience. Such as establishing coastal observation posts on the east coast of Theonia, constructing simple defensive facilities in each coastal village and town, and establishing a small garrison camp of reserve centurias between several villages…
However, before Kunogelata could make a decision, Kapus stood up and said with decisiveness, “I request for the senate to allow me to lead the troops to immediately stop those Syracusans to avoid causing greater losses to our people!”
The statesmen had no objection regarding Kapus’ request. In fact, he was the only one in the Senate at the moment that was familiar with Theonia’s legion tactics and able to lead soldiers in battle. At this moment, there were only a few statesmen left in the Senate.
“It seems that we need to recruit the freemen again.” Said Kunogelata in a heavy mood. They nearly exhausted the Thurian citizens that could fight at this moment, so they had to go to the port area to recruit freemen. But even the number of freemen in there was not much left except for a large number of sailors of the Theonian fleet and the labourers of the military’s logistics.