Chapter 296
The people of Tarantum, who had long been nourished by the prosperous trade and fertile land of Tarantum, felt the cruelty of war. They no longer had the ambition to compete with Diónia and only hoped that there would be no more sacrifices for their homes and loved ones.
Under the strong demand of the citizens, the Senate organized a hasty Citizens' Assembly. After a heated debate, they finally decided to use the victory of the battle to propose peace talks with the Mesapi people.
In order to prevent the obstruction of the belligerent Consul Diomiras, the Citizens' Assembly also elected the next Consul in advance. Humacas was still elected, and Distimus became Consul again. At the same time, he shouldered the mission of going to Mesapi to complete the peace talks.
As for Diomiras, the people of Tarantum were not as radical as the people of Crotone and did not request for him to be put on trial. However, it could be assumed that his life in Tarantum would not be good.
Distimus was on his way to the camp, and Devers was writing a reply to the Senate of Diónia: Sirs, after I led my army to Tarantum, I fought a battle with the 30,000 Mesapi coalition forces in the mountains yesterday and won. Our soldiers suffered few casualties, but Tarantum suffered heavy casualties …
Judging from the results of the war during this period of time, the decline of Tarantum is inevitable. Therefore, Consul Trifias of Heraclea took the initiative to express to me that he wanted to join the Diónia Alliance, and Consul Tudepres of Metapontum is also wavering.
Sirs, perhaps you haven't realized that the Diónia Alliance is no longer the weak city-state that had to be invaded by strong states in the past, but has become the most powerful force in southern Italy! Since Diónia has become the overlord of southern Italy, it has attracted the attention of other city-states in southern Italy. We must change our previous cautious and conservative style in time to show the boldness that a strong alliance should have. Only in this way can the city-states of southern Italy tightly unite around Diónia and protect the safety of Diónia. Diónia also protects the peace and stability of all the Greek city-states in southern Italy and protects the safety of every Greek. This is the goal that we, the Senate of Diónia, strive to achieve!
Xilu, as a Greek tribe living among the other races, has asked us for help in a time of crisis, and this is the time to test us. To reject him would cause doubt in the hearts of our allies and the cities that are watching; but to accept him would inspire the courage of the cities that have faith in Diónia, for Diónia would go to war with Bruti for the sake of a small tribe like Xilu. So when the other city-states were in danger, how could Diónia not do its best to help?
In addition, even if a war with the Bruti arises because of protecting the Xilu tribe, there is no need for us to regret it, because a war between Diónia and the Bruti is unavoidable! The reason why the Xilu tribe asked us for help was because Cosenza was uniting the Bruti tribes to form an even more powerful and terrifying Bruti tribal alliance, just like the Lucaria tribal alliance. We all know that the land in the Bruti region is barren, and the production is not plentiful. In the past, the Bruti often crossed the mountains and plundered the Greek city-states for supplies and people. Now that a unified Bruti tribal alliance has been established, it is inevitable that they will expand outwards to achieve greater development for their race!
But look at the surroundings of the Bruti, it is either surrounded by Diónia's territory, or adjacent to our allies. The Bruti is like a beast lying next to Diónia. Do we hope to tame it before it grows up? Or do we wait for it to grow up before we fight it? The answer is undoubtedly the former!
…
The Devers handed the written letter to Marigi.
After sending him off, Tormid came in and told the Devers in detail about the investigation of the soldiers beating the people.
The Devers did not expect that it was because of him that the soldiers violated the military law, and he was touched.
He whispered, "Olivers …" He could not make a decision at the moment.
Tormid took the opportunity to persuade, "Sir, it is because the Tarantum people freely insulted our soldiers … and you, that Olivers and the others were angry and beat him. I don't think they are wrong in this matter. And — "
The Devers looked up at him, and Tormid immediately shut his mouth.
"Yes, for me …" The Devers sighed softly and made a decision in his heart, "Go inform Capus and Dracos, let them leave half of their men in the camp, and bring the rest of the soldiers to the threshing ground in the middle of the village, and then call the military judge."
"Sir!" Tormid heard and wanted to persuade again.
The Devers waved his hand and did not allow him to say more, "Go."
… …
"Brothers!" The Devers stood on a haystack the height of a person, facing thousands of Diónia soldiers, and said loudly, "In order to fulfill the covenant between Diónia and Tarantum, you have come to this strange land, fought bravely, and repelled the fierce and cunning Mesapi and Puchetti. I, the Senate, and all the people of Diónia thank you!"
The soldiers proudly puffed out their chests.
The Devers paused for a while and continued, "But in the process, a bad thing happened. Several of our brothers beat up a Tarantum theater owner. At that time … "
The soldiers pricked up their ears and listened carefully. Although they were restricted by military rules and could not move, their eyes darted around, guessing who did it.
"Although it was the other party who provoked us first, Diónia's military law is not for show. Those who beat people must be punished." The Devers shouted with a serious expression, "Military Judge!"
The military judge at the side said loudly, "According to Diónia's military law, soldiers who bully or beat people of the Alliance during the war will be punished at least 20 times depending on the seriousness of the case. But because of the other party's repeated provocation and vicious words, the soldiers present were forced to attack out of anger … After discussing with the Commander-in-Chief, I have decided to punish the soldiers who committed the crime — each soldier who committed the crime will be punished with 10 strokes of the stick! "
The soldiers were relieved. For them, who often received military training, 10 strokes of the stick was a very light punishment.
"Olivers, step forward." The military judge continued to shout.
When Olivers walked to the line, there was another small commotion among the soldiers. They did not expect a captain to be involved in this matter.
Leotychides was also quite surprised. He did not expect the people of Diónia to punish the captain who committed the crime without hesitation just because he beat up a citizen of the Alliance in order to uphold military discipline! In his memory, the Spartan army was also unable to achieve the same level of discipline. They were only disciplined when it came to battles, but when they were in the territory of the Alliance, the actions of the soldiers were not strictly restricted. Therefore, the local people, such as Corinth and Megara, had a lot of resentment towards them. Back then, as the son of King Arcis of Sparta, Leotychides did not receive much treatment as a prince. He also participated in many battles as a soldier, so he was more familiar with the situation of the Sparta army.
Olivers calmly walked to the front of the line. After beating someone up, he was already prepared to be punished.
After the military judge called out the names of the soldiers who committed the crime, Olivers saw the Devers on the haystack looking at him. Then he heard him say loudly, "In addition, there is another person who will be punished by military law, and that is me!"
As soon as this statement came out, the whole army was in an uproar.
Capus, Dracos, Antonios, Alexis, Amyntas and other senior generals were also shocked when they heard this. For a moment, they forgot to restrain the soldiers. Under the reminder of the Devers, they finally restored the order of the line.
"Why are you punishing me?" The Devers pointed at the soldier who committed the crime in front of the line and said loudly with sincerity, "Olivers, as a captain, doesn't he know that beating someone up is against military law?! Don't the other brothers know the pain of being beaten by the military rod?! No, of course they know. Every soldier of the legion is familiar with the military law of Diónia. But why did the brothers of the First Legion not have such problems when they were in Crotone, in Siritia, and in Corunna, but made a mistake here in Tarantum across the bay?! Because the people of Tarantum mainly insulted me, and Olivers and the others hit me in anger to maintain my prestige as the commander of this army! And I, as the Consul of Diónia, your commander, led you to help Tarantum, but not only did I not win the respect of the people of Tarantum, I even let them belittle and insult us! This is my dereliction of duty, my responsibility! So since you want to punish them, you have to punish me first, otherwise — "The Devers patted his chest," I don't feel good here, and I can't forgive myself, so don't try to dissuade me! I want to accept the punishment of ten military rods together with these brothers! The execution will be supervised by Dracos, no faking! "
After the Devers finished, the threshing floor was silent.
Every soldier looked at their commander with excitement, their chests rising and falling rapidly.
Olivers only felt his eyes warm, and tears flowed down his cheeks. He could not help but wave his arms and shout, "Long live our Devers!"
As soon as he took the lead, a huge wave of voices covered the entire village, mixed with praises of "Long live Diónia!" and curses of "Damn Tarantum!"
The Devers watched everything calmly, and he reminded the military judge who was equally excited, "Prepare for the execution."
After that, he walked down the grain pile and stood next to Olivers.
… …
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