Chapter 485: Enemy, Not Friend

Since Davos was not in the Senate now, there was no longer a need for Cheirisophus and the others to go to the city. Instead, they directly headed north to the camp.

While passing through the second Arc de Triomphe outside the north of the city, Cheirisophus stood under it and looked up for a while before leaving.

Thurii's military camp is on the north bank on the junction between the Coscile and Tiro rivers. At present, Thurii's military camp was no longer the simple camp with tents and fences back when they first rebuilt the city but a fully functional fortress.

The abatis, moats, earthen fortification, wooden walls, and sentry towers erected every 20 metres on the wooden walls formed the outer defence of the camp. While inside the camp were rows of barracks built of bricks and tiles, each capable of accommodating a squad of soldiers, with beds made into bunk beds, making the room more spacious.

There were also stables for the cavalries, an armoury, a weapon repair workshop, a kitchen, a clinic, and even a waterwheel, which brought water from the Tiro River into the camp's bathing rooms (only cold water baths for the soldiers).

And of course the most important and indispensable part of the camp: The command headquarters, consisting of the accommodation for the grand legatus, the senior army officials, and the conference room; The training ground, one for the light infantry, one for the heavy infantry, one for the cavalry, one for weapon testing(mainly for the assembly and testing of large siege equipment), and the grand training ground (where the joint training, formations, and assessment of the troops took place). In addition, there were several special training grounds: City Defence Training Ground (To train the troops in building camps, defences and sieges; the land on this training ground would often be dug and patched. It is filled with devastation.) Training grounds on both sides of the Tiro River (training for wading across the river and ship landing. Thus, they are equipped with dozen small transport ships). And mountain training ground (for training in mountain operations, but not located in the camp. Instead, it is in the mountain range west of the camp, over the hot spring baths).

For Theonia, a city-state founded through military, the camps built near the cities in Theonia are the most functional and advanced training camps among the countries, city-states and ethnic groups in the Mediterranean in this era, especially the ones in Thurii. As the centre of Theonia, Thurii has the largest number of soldiers; hence the camp could train 5000 people at a time and could fully accommodate 50,000 people. It also has 500 soldiers stationed in rotation all year round, not including some civil servants of Theonia.

It is because of the existence of these camps that the official citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen of Theonia, who were farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, merchants and so on, and have no battlefield experience, are quickly forged into qualified legionaries after one-two years of strict training. That is the reason why the fifth legion, which has never been on a real battlefield, did not lose in the confrontation against Syracuse's elite soldiers who had fought all year round.

At this moment, Cheirisophus saw that the ten-metre high wooden wall in front of him extended infinitely to both sides that he could not see the end. So he could only imagine the scale of the military camp.

'This is obviously a city!' Cheirisophus could not stop himself from asking in surprise, "Is this your military camp?!"

"Yes, this is Thurii's military camp. It is where the citizens of Thurii, Amendolara and Besidice trained." The official replied.

Cheirisophus looked up again at the defenders patrolling back and forth on the wooden wall and the archers staring into the distance from the tower. This heavily guarded camp made him feel a little uneasy, so he said, "Let's go in."

But the official stopped, turned and said solemnly to Cheirisophus and his attendant, "Because we are now in a period of war, we cannot reveal the military secrets in this camp. Thus, his majesty Davos requires you to wear a mask and be blindfolded before you can enter." After saying that, he pulled out a black mask.

At the same time as the suspension bridge of the camp was lowered and the camp's gate opened, a team of fully armed soldiers lined up.

Then the attendants of Cheirisophus exploded in anger, "Theonians, do you know what you just said?!"

"How dare you blindfold us! When we Spartans go anywhere, we are always greeted respectfully by the archons and strategoi of those city-states. This is a humiliation to us Spartans!"

"Theonians, are you not afraid of provoking the wrath of Sparta?!"

The Theonian officials were completely unafraid of the Spartan's accusations. Instead, he sneered, "A few years ago, a Spartan envoy threatened us with the same words and got expelled out of Thurii. If you are unwilling to carry out our request, then we regretfully ask you to leave Thurii."

The attendant suddenly quieted down as the man the official was talking about was Phidias, who had become a joke among the Spartans for a long time after he returned to Sparta from Thurii. Thus, they all looked at Cheirisophus as they didn't want Phidias' fate to fall on them.

'This is Theonia's display of determination!' Cheirisophus sighed inwardly.

Unlike Phidias, Cheirisophus is one of the few Spartans with genuine diplomatic qualities. That is why the Gerousia entrusted him with the important task of being the envoy to Magna Graecia. At this moment, he took a deep breath after seeing the situation turn bad; his gaze landed on the Theonian official and said, "I accept your request. However, I hope to see your king soon!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The young man, who was only 24 years old and now the king of Theonia, sat in the centre of the room. His appearance almost remained the same except for an additional circle of stubble on his jaw. However, the impression he gave to Cheirisophus was completely different from when they parted.

After Cheirisophus entered, Davos sat quietly and looked at him seriously: Cheirisophus could feel an imposing momentum emanated from the young king as it slowly pressed towards him like a steep mountain.

He then realised that this meeting seemed formal due to other people sitting on either side of Davos. Thus Davos definitely wouldn't talk about their personal friendship.

This forced Cheirisophus, who had just taken off his mask, to speak first, to break the silence that had overwhelmed him, "By the Gerousia's order, I, Cheirisophus, the envoy of Sparta, is on a mission to Theonia and wishes to be treated with due respect and hospitality."

Kunogelata, who was sitting on the left side of Davos, said with a serious expression, "Sparta, as the ally of Greeks, should have maintained the peace among the Greek city-states, yet you, by virtue of your strength, bullied the weak and provoke wars everywhere. Such a city-state is not worthy of Theonia's respect!"

Cheirisophus was already uneasy, but he still did not expect Theonia's attitude towards Sparta would be so bad. Although he was unhappy, it was fortunate that he had been to other city-states many times and had rich experience, so he quickly replied, "Who can say who is right and who is wrong in the dispute of interests between city-states. Besides, it happened in the eastern Mediterranean and has nothing to do with Magna Graecia."

Then an elderly white-haired man to the right of Davos, Scambras, stood up and accusingly said, "We don't care what you did in Greece. But Sparta meddling in our war with Syracuse, assisting the abominable Syracusans to trample on our land and slaughtering our people, that is our enemy! We have no respect for our enemies, only anger!"

'Do they know?!' Cheirisophus looked at Davos.

Davos looked grim as he stared at him sharply.

Cheirisophus argued calmly, "Although we have an alliance between Syracuse, Sparta has never meddled in the affairs of the western Mediterranean, nor has it ever sent troops. Furthermore, Sparta has no animosity towards Theonia!..."

"Phidias." Davos opened his mouth and said the name that made Cheirisophus dread to hear. Then Davos continued in a cold and unhurried tone, "A strategos of Sparta and the brother of Eudamidas. He had also once come to Theonia on a mission and is now present in the Syracusan army, commanding the right flank of the Syracusan army's formation in the battle against the South Italian Alliance. Don't tell me that he acted independently without authorisation or that Sparta has long exiled him. As far as I know, he led the Spartan army to battle in Corinth a few months ago. "

Davos' words blocked all the possibilities for Cheirisophus to argue. At the same time, it made him surprised at Theonia's detailed information about Phidias. Since he had nothing to hesitate and worry about, he simply changed the subject and bluntly said, "Sparta hopes that Theonia and Syracuse will cease this war and sign a peace agreement so that the people of Magna Graecia can rebuild their homes!"

"Did I hear it wrong?! Sparta began to care about our Magna Graecia?!" The taunting of Scambras fell on deaf ears as Cheirisophus fixed his gaze straight on Davos.

"Did Dionysius agree?" Instead of being surprised, Davos asked rhetorically.

"I had come to Thurii first to ask your opinion before I go to Scylletium." Answered Cheirisophus.

"What is the armistice condition?" Kunogelata interjected.

Cheirisophus carefully stated the plan he had considered while on his journey, "Although Theonia won a naval battle, you must still admit that Syracuse occupies a great advantage in Magna Graecia. They had not only conquered the other city-states of Magna Graecia, but they now also about to enter your territory, while your Theonia is still unstable...so my suggestion is-"

Cheirisophus looked at Davos and seriously said, "Both sides will have a truce and maintain their current condition."

After Cheirisophus said this, a cold silence shrouded the place, so he immediately added, "Naturally, you can also say your conditions and let us, Sparta, be responsible for coordinating."