ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 272 History of the Three Tribes
Polydorus narrated: "...In the ancient times, Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, was arrogant and disrespectful to the god Zeus. One day he came up with an evil idea and wanted to tease Zeus. , so he killed a servant, made his meat into soup, and invited Zeus to a banquet. Zeus saw through his trick, destroyed the palace with thunder and lightning, turned Lycaon into a wolf, and destroyed his kingdom …”

"I know this legend. The King of Arcadia blasphemed the Lord God. It is normal for him and his kingdom to be punished by Zeus, but what does this have to do with the Messapians?" Felicius interjected curiously.

Polydorus looked at Davos and saw that he also showed interest, so he smiled and said: "Yes, everyone in Greece knows the story of Lycaon, but his story does not end... Lycaon Ong had three sons, and when the kingdom was destroyed, they took their own tribesmen and slaves, crossed the Adriatic Sea by boat, and fled to southern Italy to settle down."

Polydorus glanced at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "The names of these three sons are Daoni, Pucheti and Messape."

"Oh." Felicius was a little surprised.

"After hundreds of years, the tribes led by these three sons have developed and grown. They named their tribes after the names of the first three leaders to distinguish them from each other... This has been circulated among the Mesape people. According to the saying, we Tarantum have been at war with them for a long time, so we know."

After Polydorus finished speaking, Capps asked worriedly: "There is another Dauni?! These three races turned out to be the same people. When we fight with the Map Alliance, will the Dauni suddenly join us?" ?!”

Polydorus hurriedly explained: "Although they used to be the same race, after hundreds of years of development, no matter Mesapi, Puchetti, or Downey, they are all large tribes with dozens of tribes and more than 10,000+ people. Races each have their own fixed territory, not only have different political systems, but also have conflicts of interest with each other, and even become sworn enemies.

The Dauni people are located to the north of the Pucheti people. It is said that they own a large river plain with fertile land and four or five large towns.The Pucheti people are sandwiched between the Dauni and the Messapian people. It has neither fertile land nor good port cities and trade channels like the Mesapian people. It is the most difficult to develop, so it has always been with the Dauni people. People compete for the land on both sides of the Ofanto River. Therefore, the two races are life-and-death enemies and it is impossible to unite together.In the south, the Pucheti people and the Messapian people also have conflicts from time to time. It is only because of the existence of our Tarantum that the fighting between them is not so fierce..."

Davos listened to his story while looking down at a rough diagram of Tarentum and surrounding forces that Polydorus had drawn at his request.At this time, he suddenly asked: "What are the differences between the political systems of the three ethnic groups: Downi, Pucheti, and Mesapi?"

Polydorus did not expect that Daves would ask this. He frowned, thought carefully for a while, and then said: "Well... the political systems of the various city-states in Messape are somewhat similar to our Greek city-states, but in more than ten years, Years ago, they were still a unified kingdom. King Attas once warmly entertained the Athenians who wanted to attack Syracuse, and also sent a large number of warriors to join..." As he spoke, Polydorus With a sneer on his face: "Messapian territory is surrounded by our Greek city-states, and there are frequent trade exchanges. Therefore, the Messapian people have long been influenced by the democratic ideas of the Greek people. The nobles, tribes, and towns have been clamoring for restrictions. The power of the king, but Attas was a fool and had close contacts with the Athenians. How could he know the insidiousness of those Athenians? As a result, within a few years after the Athenian army was destroyed in Syracuse, the Messapian nobles launched In the riots, Attas' rule was overthrown, and he himself lost his life... Then, the towns of Messape became independent one after another, and now they are basically ruled by aristocrats, who elect a consul every year to rule together with the aristocratic assembly. The city-states, the city-states of these Mesapi people and Udiai formed the city-state alliance of Mesapi people, and they rarely fight with each other, and they are relatively united—"

When Polydorus said this, his tone was a little low, which made Davos realize that this emerging alliance of Messapian city-states seemed to be giving the Tarantum people more headaches.

"And Pucheti and Dauni are still ruled by kings..." Polydorus quickly turned the topic to the other two races: "The difference is that the king of Pucheti has more power, while the king of Dauni... ...It is said that they are subject to the constraints of various city lords..."

Davos listened thoughtfully, and then asked: "Since Messappi and Pucetti have always been in conflict, how could they form an alliance?"

Polydorus smiled bitterly and said: "You have to ask me about this... However, according to the analysis of our Senate, the reason why the Mesapians are willing to form an alliance with Pucetti is probably because they were attacked by our Tarantum attack. I’m scared!”

There was a hint of pride in the look on Polydorus's face, and Davos nodded. He looked at the map again, but he was thinking: Before, Tarantum's attack on Messape, I heard that Tarantum Mu's casualties were greater, but they occupied Brindisi and Manduria. Once the newly occupied territory was stabilized, they could cut off Messapi's connection with the north, and Tarantum's navy The strength is one of the best in Magna Graecia, so Tarantum can surround the Messapians and slowly eat away at them.The Tarantum people died in the battle, and there were free people to replenish them, but the Messapei people died one by one and would only become weaker and weaker. This was probably the original plan of the senators of Tarentum.

"As for the Pucheti people, maybe they would rather have the Mesapian people with the same blood next to their territory than foreigners! Besides, after forming an alliance with the Mesapian people, the Pucheti people can deal with the Dao with all their strength. I’m a nun…”

This was just Polydorus's guess. Davos felt: There must be other reasons, otherwise Pucetti would be in a bad situation, and he would be willing to take risks to offend a powerful country in Greater Greece!
"Aren't the Puchetti people afraid that the Dauni people would take the opportunity to attack when they sent out a large army to fight?" Capps asked.

"I heard that Pucetti attacked Downi last year, but was defeated and lost the land on the south bank of the Ofanto River they occupied. Pucetti finally signed an armistice agreement with Downi."

"An armistice agreement can guarantee that the Dauni people will not take advantage of the false attack?"

Polidorus shrugged and said angrily: "Who knows what these stupid natives are thinking, anyway, the Puchetti are already on our land!"

Dracos yawned and was not interested in what Polydorus said. He just saw that Davos was listening seriously and was embarrassed to interrupt.

At this time, when he saw that Polydorus had stopped speaking, he couldn't wait to ask: "What are the characteristics of the armies of Messape and Pucheti?"

Speaking of this issue, Polydorus obviously became emotional again: "The Messapians used to be the same as the Pucheti people. They had a lot of cavalry, but their infantry was not good, they did not have good armor, and their formation was loose and lacked They don’t know how to form a square formation, so they never dare to fight us head-on. They only know how to attack and harass us, like cowardly bandits! But the Athenians-" Polydorus doubled his voice: "We are the Athenians. Of course, Bada's sub-states sided with the mother state in the Peloponnesian War, but the Athenians actually went to help the foreigners because of this, providing armor and weapons to the Messapians, and also sent people to help them train heavy infantry , instigating the Messapians to fight against us! The Messapians have mastered the tactics of our Greeks, and with the support of Athens, they will do more harm to our Tarantum than before! If it weren't for Archita——" said At this point, Polydorus looked slightly gloomy.

Dracos did not take into account the change in Polydorus' mood and continued to ask: "What are the combat characteristics of the Messapian cavalry?"

Polydorus glanced at the others helplessly, seeing that everyone was very interested, he had to say: "The Mesapi people are good at riding. It is said that they can control the direction of the horse with their legs alone without holding the rein. They are good at throwing spears on horseback, and they pose a certain threat to our heavy infantry."

Davos and Felicius looked at each other.

Polydorus saw this and said hurriedly: "Although the Messapian cavalry is more powerful than our cavalry, the cavalry is only an auxiliary in the battle. It is the heavy infantry that really plays a role on the battlefield. Even if the Messapian cavalry once With the help of the Athenians, their heavy infantry is still no match for the real Greek heavy infantry!”

Drax asked again: "How many people are there in the Maple Alliance Army? How many citizens can your Tarantum send to participate in the war?"

Polydorus looked at him, spread his hands, and said: "I am just a messenger. The number of citizens sent to participate in the war is decided by the Senate, and I can't make the decision. As for how many people there are in the Mepp coalition... We even have Archita. I don’t know whether they are alive or dead, let alone the specific number of Mepp’s coalition forces. However, I personally estimate that it should not exceed 3 people, and the citizens of Tarantum who can fight now include those in Brindisi and Manchuria. The garrison in Duria has at least 16000 young and strong citizens, and with the addition of 14000 of your Dionia, plus the 3000 people from Metapontum and Heraclea, the total number of our coalition forces is far With more than 3 people, it shouldn’t be difficult to defeat the Maple Alliance Army!”

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

After sending Polydorus away, Davos and the others returned to the mansion and continued their discussions.

"Lord Davos, if it is true as the messenger said, Tarantum can send tens of thousands of people to join us, then we can first go to aid Manduria." Dracos pointed at the map and said with confidence Said: "Our strength is twice that of the Mesapi and Pucetti coalition forces. Not only can we defeat them, we can even consider eating part of them. In this way, when we go north to reinforce Brindisi, it will be much easier. "

(End of this chapter)