At the meeting, some people were still complaining: two hundred drachmas were not too much. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Some people also retorted: It is necessary to have more, so that they can feel that it is not easy to become a citizen of Amendolara and know how to cherish it.

As a result, the next day, word came from the registrar Raphias: Christoia, the consul's wife, had advanced money for ten freemen, and Mersis had also advanced money for six freemen.

Only then did everyone realize the preciousness of this group of free people. Not to mention that Mersis had a fierce eye, and he searched for a lot of talents who could write and calculate along the way in Persia, as well as skilled craftsmen, even those ordinary slaves were mostly physically strong, because they were laborers in the baggage camp, and they had experienced many battles, and they could become qualified soldiers with a little training, and what was more valuable was that they were mainly Persian farmers. In the Mediterranean, there are three places where farmers are very experienced in growing crops: first, the Persians, the fertile lands of the two river basins have produced excellent farmers; The second is the Egyptians, the Nile Valley, which swells every July, makes the Egyptians love to do only two things in their lives - farming and worshipping God; The third is Carthage, Carthage's two powerful magic weapons -- maritime trade and agriculture, for which they also compiled a special agricultural book. As for the Greeks, because of the barren land of the Greek mainland, they were more likely to go to seafaring trade, herding cattle and sheep, growing olives and making wine, and handicrafts...... And these new citizens have been running around fighting all over the place, and they are completely blind to farming.

So, everyone rushed up, and the three hundred freedmen were quickly divided, and the citizens who did not hire the freedmen had to go to the market in Tarantum to buy slaves (at that time Tarantum had the largest slave market in Greater Greece), and some citizens even took up the idea of the large number of freedmen in their neighbor Turiy, of course, this is all for later.

The Senate was not immediately dissolved after dealing with the proposal on slaves, as Marigi had returned from Tarantum.

From Amendolara by sea, not far from Tarantum and from the port of Turiyi, it takes less than two hours to reach it with a tailwind. Davers made a mistake in letting Mariji envoy Tarantum, of course, he didn't have a better talent available at that time, as a Persian, Mariji was not allowed to enter Tarantum at first, but fortunately, Acheta anticipated this situation, and wrote a letter for Mariji to bring to his father Histiavis, plus Mariji's fawning and the rich and novel gifts he brought, the senior senator Histiaves actively mediated for him, As a result, the senate and consuls of Tarantum showed enthusiasm for Amendolara's offer to form an alliance with Tarantum.

Of course, it was not because of Histiaves that Tarantum became enthusiastic about the mercenary proposal, but the actual reason was that although Tarantum and Turriy had been at war for decades and were now part of a defensive alliance, it was a loose alliance and had no binding force. Since this alliance was initiated by Tarantum, it also actively contributed, like some city-states with relatively deep hatred between each other, and it would be good not to tear each other down, such as Crotone and Locke. Including Tarantum is also a little bit of a mustard for Turiyi, after all, Tarantum was one of the top states in Greater Greece, facing a newly established city-state, he actually lost twice in a row, and finally although he signed an armistice agreement and peacefully built Heraclia, Tarantum lost face in Great Greece. Amentola, who was once an ally of the Turii allies, is now going to ally with Tarantum, and the Tarantum Senate suddenly has a big face, and the addition of Amendolara can also protect their subordinate city-state - Heraclia very well, how can there be any reason to disagree!

But they were hampered by another request from Marigi: he asked Tarantum for assistance, citing the fact that Amendolara had just experienced war and was in dire need of supplies to make ends meet. Originally, as a newly formed ally, Tarantum was a wealthy city-state, and it was a matter of little effort to help with some material things. However, the amount of supplies requested by Mariji was relatively large, and the elders had to discuss the matter of assistance.

It wasn't until the next day, when Acheta led his troops back to Tarantum and reported to the Senate on his expedition, that he focused on the fighting power of the mercenaries and the outstanding military talent of the leader Davers, and emphasized that Amendolara was now ruled by the mercenaries, a group of new citizens.

In fact, Marigi had already praised the performance of the mercenaries for the annihilation of the Lucanian coalition army, but it caused the dissatisfaction of some veterans, thinking that they were trying to take the credit of Tarantum. Now that Acheta, whom they trusted, had said the same, and was full of praise for Davers, it made them realize that the newborn Amendolara could do something more than protect Heraclia from the elements. So not only did it not cut the number of materials requested by Marigi, but it also added some additional things.

When Marigi read out the covenant with Tarantum at the venue, the old citizens listened to it and didn't feel much, they were all alliances, but the object was that Turii was replaced by Tarantum, and the content did not change much. It was the Persian, now the citizen of Amendolara, who caught their eye, not only because of his fluency in Greek, but also because of the two bills he had introduced, which made the old citizens feel complicated for a while.

Marigi then read out the list of Tarantum's aids: 100 tons of grain, 1,000 pounds of salted fish, 200 sets of round shields and bayonet guns, and 100 horses of linen......

Every time they heard the quantity of supplies, their faces were full of surprise, and at the end, before Mariji could finish reading, everyone cheered: Tarantum is so generous! If nothing else, a hundred tons of grain would be enough to sustain the entire population of Amendolara for six months, and by that time it would be time for the wheat fields of Amendolara to be harvested. Amendolara's biggest difficulty was easily solved, and the senators were like in a dream.

"All of the above materials are so large that Tarantum will be divided into several times and transported by sea to Heraklia and then here. The first batch will be delivered tomorrow! As soon as Marigi finished speaking, everyone applauded.

At this time, Davers took advantage of the situation and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, in view of the great deeds that Mariji has done for Amendolara, I propose that Mariji, a citizen of Amendolara and a merchant officer of the city-state, become the senator of the Senate!" ”

The proposal was enthusiastically supported by the new citizens, and the old citizens reluctantly raised their hands.

The Senate then decided that an envoy led by the Chief Executive, Cornerus, and the Inspector, Antonios, would visit Tarantum on the second day to express their gratitude to the allies and to further discuss the details of the Covenant.

When the Senate meeting ended, Marigi followed Davers out of the room.

"Thank you, sir, for your help! But let me become a citizen of Amendora, a business officer, and a noble senator! Mariji said gratefully.

"Looks like I didn't lie to you." Davers chuckled.

"My lord, you have always been a good talker, how can you deceive people!" Marigi seemed to have forgotten what he had said when he first came to Great Greece.

"Remember, Mariji, that this was not my decision, it was because the Patriarchs thanked you for rewarding Amendolara for your contributions!" Davers, even if modest, said with a reminder.

Mariji looked around, and then whispered, "What senate!" All I know is that if it weren't for you, my lord, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be a citizen of Amendolara, and Mariji will always be loyal to you, Lord Davers! ”

Marigi's words were sincere, and Davers smiled again and said, "It seems that you will have to slowly adjust to life as a citizen of the Greek city-state. ”

Marigi wanted to say more, but Davers patted him on the shoulder and asked, "How is Tarantum?" ”

Marigi was a smart man, and he didn't say any more, but said seriously: "The time is too short, and after walking around in a hurry, I feel that the city of Tarantum is very large, with many people, and there are many rich people...... Their port has a lot of merchant ships, the market is bustling, and the daily trading volume is estimated to be not low......" Mariji looked envious.

Davers nodded, and asked again, "I heard that the Mesapi are invading Tarantum, how is the situation now?" ”

If he hadn't joined the mercenary army, Mariji wouldn't have cared about this, let alone say one, two, three, and followed the mercenaries to hear and witness, and he also had some understanding of the military: "The Mesapi have retreated, and their invading troops are mainly cavalry and light infantry, and they don't have a hard fight with the heavy infantry of Tarantum at all, they can only invade the land outside Tarantum, but Tarantum has nothing to do with them, because they can't catch up with the Mesapi people at all." ”

"Cavalry? Did the Mesapi have more cavalry? Davers asked keenly.

"I don't know. However, it is said that the terrain south of Tarantum does not have many tall mountains, few rivers, and mostly flat meadows, so the Mesapi people graze a lot of cattle, sheep and horses there. ”

Davers's heart moved, he thought that in the Apennine Peninsula, except for the northern Gauls, because of the vast plains and swamps of the Po River valley, the cavalry was strong; The forces in other places are dominated by infantry, and a small number of cavalry is just a façade. I didn't expect that in the south, on the "heel" of the "Italian leather boots", there were tribes dominated by cavalry (in fact, this is a mistake in Marigi's intelligence, and Mesapi's army is not dominated by cavalry), and I must let Antonios visit Tarantum to investigate this Mesapi force in the future.

Note: The Messapi are said to be a race that migrated to the "heels" of southern Italy from Illyria (where present-day Epirus and Albania are) a long time ago, and is therefore also considered indigenous because it predates the Great Colonial Era of Greece.