Chapter 74
After crossing the Saraceno River, the Devers clearly felt that the terrain was rising. The mountains and the coast were parallel to the north, but the distance between them had shortened a lot. The narrow space increased the Devers' safety, but he didn't let his guard down. He let Asistes and Ledes serve as scouts on the left wing of the team, paying close attention to the situation in the mountains to prevent the enemy from making a detour and cutting off their retreat.
For the rest of the journey, the Devers didn't see a coast with a soft beach. Instead, they saw steep cliffs and rugged reefs. The sea beat rhythmically on the coast, and the sound was quite shocking.
It seemed that Amendolar couldn't have a port. The Devers thought, feeling a sense of loss rising from the bottom of his heart.
At this moment, the guide shouted, "Look, that's Amendolar."
Following the direction of his finger, a city in the distance appeared and disappeared.
The Devers's spirits rose. He squeezed his horse's abdomen and rushed forward for a while. The soldiers behind him quickly caught up.
Now he could see clearly that Amendolar was actually a mountain city, which didn't conform to the Greek tradition! It was built on a mountain and didn't look low. It faced the east, overlooking the Taranto Bay. The morning mist in the mountains surrounded it, making it look indistinct.
In order to see it more clearly, the Devers continued forward.
The guide followed nervously because they were less than a mile away from the city of Amendolar. Although they hadn't seen the Lucanians before, it didn't mean that the Lucanians wouldn't come out to 'welcome' them when they reached their doorstep!
At this time, another river blocked the way. The river was less than ten meters wide, and the bottom could be seen clearly in the clear water. There was no problem at all walking.
"This is the Sisno River. Not far to the north, there's another river called the Burano River. Amendolar is between the two rivers. Let's stop here. We can't cross the river anymore, "the guide begged.
The Devers couldn't help but sigh. The Apennine Peninsula was so rich in water! No wonder the citizens of Greece lived a better life than the natives. The snow in the Apennines melted and eventually formed rivers. The rivers washed the soil and stones from the mountains to the lowlands. Year after year, how could the land not be fertile? Compared to the sand and stones of Greece, the difference was like heaven and earth! It was just that the plains were too small.
During the war, the mountain city was generally easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it needed to solve two problems, food and water. Since Amendolar is surrounded by rivers, water should not be a problem … The Devers pondered as they observed the nearby city of Amendolar. The city did not look big. It was at least a hundred meters from the ground, but the slope was gentle, and there was a stone wall surrounding the city.
The guide saw that the Devers did not cross the river, nor did they walk away. They just stood by the river and kept looking at Amendolara. He could not help but feel anxious and wanted to urge them again.
Devers asked, "What is the relationship between Amendola and Turií? Is it a city built by immigrants from Turií? "
This guide wasn't an ordinary slave. As a slave, he had been accompanying Burkos to study and play with him since he was young. When he grew up, he even followed Burkos to the north and south to do business. As an important assistant of Burkos, he could be considered to have seen a lot of things. The reason why Burkos sent him as a guide was because he felt guilty for going against his promise. Thus, he pondered for a moment before answering Dyvers' question, "It's said that Amendolara was built by the natives of this region a long time ago. Later on, the Gobaris occupied it. After Crotone destroyed Gobaris, they didn't conquer it … After Tuliyi was established, it took the initiative to form an alliance with Tuliyi and even resisted the attack of Tarantum from the north together with Tuliyi …"
Alliance? Looking at the small city of Amendolar and then thinking about the size of the city of Turií, it was obvious that the two were not of the same size. It would be difficult for them to talk on equal terms. It was probably just an alliance in name, but a vassal in reality. However, it was fine as long as it was not a colony city of Turií. The Devers secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
He had been in this era for more than half a year, and he had deliberately learned a lot about the actual situation of the Greek city-states. He had completely reversed the concept that a city-state was just a city in his previous life. After the Greeks built a city, they would try their best to expand outwards. They would build villages and towns, and bring the surrounding land under their control. When the land was beyond the direct control of the city due to distance, they would build a colony city or attack another city. On one hand, they could maintain the momentum of expansion, and on the other hand, they could provide protection around the main city.
In the beginning, these colony cities listened to the orders of the mother city. After all, the citizens of the colony city had migrated from the mother city, and even the consul might be appointed by the mother city. As time passed, the Greeks' love for independence and freedom came into play. Coupled with the fact that the Greek city-state was a closed political management model, it naturally refused to be unified. Hence, they became independent one after another. However, due to the proximity of geography and blood, as long as the mother city maintained the advantage of strength and did not bully these neighbors too much, they would form a natural alliance with the mother city. However, if the colony city and the mother city were separated by the ocean or too far away, after a few decades, due to the estrangement of the relationship, it was very likely that the colony city and the mother city would become two different city-states. It was even possible that they would become enemies with each other, like Corinth and Kokira.
Obviously, Amendora was a colony city of Sebaris, and to the Turií, it was just a subsidiary, so the land here did not belong to the Turií … The Devers thought to himself and asked, "How did the Lucanians attack this city?"
"I'm not too sure about that. It seems like only a few of the Amendolar citizens escaped … At that time, Tuliyi was grieving over the defeat of his army and the death of countless citizens. He was also busy defending against the Lucanians and did not respond to the Amendolar citizens' cries for help. No one knows where they went after that. After that, we don't know where they went … "The guide said carelessly, but the Devers kept it in mind.
At this time, the Asistes shouted, "Chief, someone is coming out of the city!"
… …
Vesba, the chief of the Lucanians in Amendora, had been a little annoyed recently because the city of Grumentum had sent an envoy, asking him to lead his tribe to participate in the Lucanian tribal alliance's second attack on the Turií.
Vesba's tribe originally lived in the upper reaches of the Agri River, southeast of Grumentum. There were many tribes living there, and Vesba's tribe was one of the larger ones. They lived by grazing and simple farming. For decades, they lived in peace with the surrounding tribes. But two years ago, after the marriage alliance between Grummentum and Picosis, the already powerful Grummentum became even more powerful. They no longer cared about the checks and balances of Potentia, which was equally powerful in the northwest, and began to expand without restraint, attacking and annexing the settlements and strongholds of the surrounding small tribes. Under the pressure of the Grummentum's army, Vesba's tribe was unwilling to be annexed, so they could only flee to the southeast and hide in the forest at the junction of the western mountains of Amendolara and Heraclea. Suffering from hunger and disease, many of his tribesmen died, including Vesba's two sons. Just when Vesba was about to surrender to the Grumentum in order to survive, he heard a piece of news.
Since the expansion of the Grumentum, its population and military power had increased greatly, but at the same time, it brought about a problem — food. Originally, the Lucanians did not produce much food, so they relied more on grazing, and grazing also depended on the weather. The winter of the previous year was much colder than the previous year, and a large number of livestock froze to death, making food a big problem for the Grumentum to maintain its hegemony in southern Lucania. So, last winter, the Grumentum joined forces with Picossis and led an army to fight against Neutum, who recognized the Grumentum's position as the leader.
Laos … met up with the troops in the tribal city and prepared to attack the Turií.
Wei Si Ba began to think. He wanted to fish in troubled waters while the two sides were fighting, so that his tribe could escape the danger of being destroyed. So, he mobilized the whole tribe to build rafts, stock up on food, and prepare to plunder east.
Just then, he heard a piece of good news: the Turií sent an army of 10,000 to attack Laos, but they were all wiped out.
Vesba was overjoyed, thinking that the opportunity had come. He immediately ordered the whole tribe to build rafts, go downstream, cross the dangerous shoals, and finally enter the territory of Amendora.
Note: Grumentum Grumentum
Picossis Pyxous
Neutum Nerulum
Laos Laos
Comments