The people who had long been nourished by the prosperity of Tarantum's trade and fertile land felt the cruelty of war, and they had no ambition to fight Dionia, hoping that no more relatives would die in their homeland.

At the strong request of the citizens, the Senate organized a hasty citizens' assembly, and after a fierce argument, it was finally decided to take advantage of the victory in this battle and propose peace talks to the Mesapi.

In order to prevent the obstruction of the militant consul Diamiras, the citizens' assembly also elected the next consul in advance, and Umarcus was still elected, and Desitimas was again appointed consul, and he was also tasked with sending Mesapi to complete the peace talks.

As for Theomillas, the Tarantum people were not as aggressive as the Crotone and did not ask him to be judged, but it would never be easy for him to return to Tarantum to live.

Desitimas was on his way to the camp, while Davers was writing a reply to the Dionian Senate: "My lords, after I have led my army to Tarantum, yesterday I fought a meeting with the 30,000 Mepp coalition in the mountains, and won the victory, our soldiers suffered few casualties, but Tarantum suffered heavy casualties......

Judging by the outcome of the war during this time, Tarantum's decline was inevitable. Thus, Trifias, the consul of Heraclia, offered to join the Dionian League, and the consul of Metapontum, Tudpres, was also wavering.

Ladies and gentlemen, you may not realize that the Dionian League is no longer the weak city-state that was invaded by the powerful states of the past, but has become the most powerful power in southern Italy! Now that Dionya has become the overlord of Southern Italy and is concerned by other city-states in Southern Italy, we must change the cautious and conservative style in time and show the courage of a strong alliance, so that the city-states of Southern Italy can unite closely around Dionya and defend the safety of Dionia, and Dionya also guards the peace and stability of all the Greek city-states in southern Italy and protects the life of every Greek, which is the goal that our Dionian Senate should strive to achieve!

Siru, a Greek tribe living in a foreign race, asks us for help in times of crisis, and this is the time to test us. Rejecting him would cause doubts among our allies and the city-states that are watching; And if it is accepted, it will encourage the courage of the city-states that have expectations of Dionia, because Dionya will not hesitate to go to war with Bruti for the sake of such a small tribe as Siru. So when other city-states were in danger, how could Dionia not come to her aid!

Besides, even if there is a war with the Brutis because of the maintenance of the Silu tribe, there is no need to regret it, because a war between Dionya and the Bruti is inevitable! The Siru tribe has come to us for help because Cosenza is uniting the Bruti tribes to form an even stronger and more fearsome Bruti tribal alliance, just like the Lucaria tribal alliance was in the beginning. As we all know, the land in the Bruti region was barren and not abundant, and in the past, the Brutis used to climb over the mountains and plunder the Greek city-states in order to obtain supplies and people. Now the formation of a unified Bruti tribal alliance will inevitably expand outward in order to obtain greater development of its race!

Look around Bruti, which is either surrounded by the territory of Dionya or bordered by our allies. Bruti is like a beast lying beside Theoria, and we hope to tame it before he grows up? Or will you wait until it grows up and then fight it? The answer is undoubtedly the former!

……

Davers handed the written letter to Marigi.

After sending him off, Tolmid came in and told Davers in detail about the soldiers who had been found beating the people.

Davers didn't expect that it was because of his own reasons that the soldiers violated military law, and he was a little moved in his heart.

He whispered: "Olivers ......" and it was difficult to make a decision for a while.

Tolmide took the opportunity to persuade: "My lord, it is precisely because the Tarantum people insult our soldiers at will...... And you, Oliver, they couldn't get angry and hit him. I don't think they're wrong about it. And—"

Davers glanced up at him, and Tolmid immediately shut up.

"Yes, for my ......," Davers sighed lightly, and made a decision in his mind: "You go and inform Cappus and Dracos, let them leave half of the men in the camp, and lead the rest of the soldiers to the threshing floor in the middle of the village, and then call the military judge." ”

"Your Excellency!" When Tolmide heard this, he wanted to persuade him again.

Davers waved his hand, not allowing him to say more: "Go and execute." ”

………………………

"Brothers!" Standing on a man-high haystack and facing thousands of Dionian soldiers, Davers exclaimed: "In order to fulfill the Dionian covenant with Tarantum, you have come to this strange land with great difficulty, fought valiantly, and repelled the fierce and cunning Mesapi and Puchetti, and I and the Senate and all the people of Dionia, thank you!" ”

One by one, the soldiers puffed out their chests proudly.

Davers paused for a moment, then continued: "But something bad happened in the process, and some of our brothers beat up a theater master in Tarantum. At the time......"

The soldiers pricked up their ears and listened carefully, although they were limited to military regulations and could not move around, but their eyes were rolling around, and they were all guessing who did it.

"Although it was the other party's provocation first, the Dionian military law is not a decoration, and if you hit someone, you will be punished." Davers shouted with a serious expression: "Judge! ”

The military judge next to him exclaimed: "According to the Dionian military law, a soldier who insults or beats the people of an allied country during the war shall be fined at least 20 military sticks, depending on the severity of the offense. But because of the other party's repeated provocations and vicious words, the soldiers present were forced to act angrily...... After consulting with the Commander-in-Chief, I made a decision on the punishment - each of the offending soldiers was given ten sticks! ”

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, for them who often received military training, the ten military sticks were a very light punishment.

"Oliver is out on the line." The military judge then shouted.

When Oliver walked to the queue, there was a small commotion among the soldiers, and they did not expect that a captain would be involved.

Leotizides was also quite surprised, he didn't expect that the Dionians, in order to maintain military discipline, could punish the captain who committed the crime without hesitation just because he beat a citizen of an ally! Because in his memory, the equally disciplined Spartan army could not do it, they were only disciplined in combat, but in peacetime on the allied lands, the soldiers' actions were not strictly restricted, so they were overbearing, and the local people had great resentment, such as Corinth, Megara, etc. At the beginning, Leotizides, as the son of the king of Sparta, did not have the treatment of too many princes, and also participated in many battles as a soldier, so he knew more about the situation of the Spartan army.

Oliver walked to the front of the queue calmly, and after the beating, he was ready to be punished.

After the military judge had finished calling the names of the offending soldiers, Oliver saw Davers on the haystack and looked at him, and then heard him say in a loud voice: "Besides, there is another person who has been court-martialed, and that is me!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the whole army was in an uproar.

When the high-ranking generals such as Capuz, Dracos, Antonios, Alexis, and Amintas heard this, they were also shocked, and they forgot to restrain the soldiers for a while, and under the reminder of Davers, they finally restored order in the ranks.

"Why do you punish me?" Davers pointed to the inmate soldier at the front of the queue and said loudly with sincere emotion: "Olivers, as the captain, doesn't he know that beating people will violate military law?!" Don't the other brothers know the pain of being beaten with a military stick?! No, of course they knew, not a single legionnaire was familiar with Dionian military law. But why didn't the brothers of the First Legion have such a problem in Krotone, in Siritin, and in Coronia, but here in Tarantum, on the other side of the bay?! Because the Tarantum people are mainly insulting me, Olivers and they are angry to protect my prestige as the commander of this army! And I, as the consul of Dionya and your commander, led you to the aid of Tarantum, and instead of earning you the respect of the Tarantums, I made them despise us and insult us! This is my dereliction of duty, my responsibility! So if you want to punish them, you have to punish me first, otherwise—" Davers slapped his chest: "I don't feel good here, and I can't forgive myself, so don't come and dissuade me!" I will join these brothers in accepting the punishment of the Ten Sticks! Dracos supervised the execution, no fakes! ”

Davers finished speaking, and there was silence on the threshing floor.

Each soldier stared at their commander with excitement, their chests rising and falling sharply.

Oliver felt his eyes heat up, and tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't help but wave his arms and shout: "Our Davers win!" ”

He took the lead, and in an instant, a huge wave of sound covered the entire village, which was also mixed with "Diolia Wansheng!" "Damn Tarantum!" Swearing.

Davers watched everything calmly, and he reminded the military judge, who was also excited, "Prepare for execution." ”

With that, he walked down the haystack and stood beside Oliver.

……………………

As soon as Desitimas arrived at the Tarantum barracks, he immediately summoned the citizens' soldiers, first announced the resolution of the citizens' assembly, relieved Deomiras of his consulship, and had the guards "escort" him back to the city, and then negotiated with Yumacus how to make peace with the Mesapites.