Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

After the others tried going to Taranto, the people of Otranto felt the third advantage of joining Theonia.

Yet the benefits they received from Theonia continued as Nicomachus announced the construction of a road connecting Otranto to Rudiae.

Having a road was the dream of the people of Otranto, but they were not sure if it was possible.

When the people of Otranto became doubtful, the Department of Road Management officials, together with the kingdom's slaves and war prisoners, started working around the hills outside Otranto.

After being pleasantly surprised to see the smooth road stretching along the rugged terrain, Nicomachus once again announced the port's expansion to take advantage of Otranto's unique geographic advantage to make Otranto's maritime trade prosper.

This time, instead of just standing around and watching, the people of Otranto actively and enthusiastically joined in the port's construction.

The town of Otranto, which had stayed silent for a hundred years, has undergone tremendous changes in just a few years. The people of Otranto are no longer what the other Messapian city-states used to call ‘fishermen from that remote fishing village’, as Otranto has now become a famous port town in eastern Theonia.

Thus by the time praetor Nicomachus' term ended, and he was about to leave, the people of Otranto had completely forgotten about their anger and swearing when Nicomachus first came. Instead, they formed a long line to see him off. Then the town council unanimously approved the erection of a statue of Nicomachus in the town square so that the people of Otranto would never forget him and all the things he had done for Otranto!…

Cheirisophus' expression turned serious as he listened. From the way the coachman spoke, Cheirisophus could sense that the people of Otranto identified themselves with the kingdom of Theonia. And if that was the case in Otranto, it should also be the same in the other towns of Messapi and Peuceti.

The might of the kingdom of Theonia had already put pressure on Sparta, but Theonia's ability to assimilate the natives terrified Cheirisophus even more. He then became doubtful and uneasy about whether Sparta’s act of taking in the Messapians and Peucetians nobles who escaped from this place was helpful or not.

Then the coachman talked about his love of rugby and said that Cheirisophus was quite lucky because if Thurii hadn't suspended the rugby champions league these two days, Cheirisophus wouldn't have gotten into his carriage.

Except for the first section of the road that wasn't easy to walk to, the other sections were flat and wide, so the carriage drove fast and arrived outside the city of Rudiae before noon.

Then the coachman stops for a while to feed the horses and have their strength recover.

Cheirisophus also took this time to eat something to fill his stomach.

When he entered the city of Rudiae, he found guards and sentry at every few steps, with heavily armed soldiers patrolling everywhere.

Cheirisophus cheered as he thought that the people of Rudiae were revolting because he had heard that Rudiae had revolted many times in previous years. But after hearing the coachman's explanation, he realised that wasn't the case.

It turned out that Rudiae's team was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round of Theonia's rugby champions league and the one to defeat them was the weak Uzentum.

When they learned about it, the people of Rudiae regarded it as a great shame. Thus besides insulting and swearing at the players angrily, they also went to the tavern in groups to drown their sorrows. After getting drunk, they used their drunkenness as an excuse to cause trouble in the city, resulting in several injuries. Thus the Rudiae guards had to monitor the whole city closely to prevent further troubles.

But the coachman didn’t know how to explain to Cheirisophus why the people of Rudiae cared so much about winning or losing a game. Hence he just said that besides playing rough and often causing fouls in Messapi’s tournament, Rudiae's team would even defy the referee's decision, so the other Messapian teams don't like to play with Rudiae much now.

In fact, the reason why the people of Rudiae hold the rugby game in such high regard is that as the centre of the former Messapian kingdom and the largest city-state of the Messapian League, it was the one that resisted the Theonians the most after their occupation. Thus the praetor of Rudiae, Milo, severely suppressed them, and at the most severe time, Milo would ask the legion to enter the city, and anyone must stay at home during the day and not be allowed to go on the street. After that, the state of resistance that lasted for a year began to accept Theonia's rule.

Then once the people of Rudiae got in touch with the outside, they found that the surrounding Messapian towns had obeyed the rule of Theonia early and thus gained the benefits earlier. With the vigorous development of maritime trade, they began to get rid of poverty and gradually became wealthy. But Rudiae, which was inland and once had fertile and vast land, a large population and dominated the city-state of Messapi, became less important.

In the following year's rugby champions league, the Rudiae players played for the first time in the tournament. With their strong spirit stimulated by their loss and unwillingness, they won victory after victory and finally encountered Thurii's team in the quarterfinals and fought a gruelling match.

In the match, Rudiae had three injured players, with one was sent off, while Thurii had one player seriously injured. In the end, Thurii's team narrowly won. After that match, Theonia's Rugby Union changed some of its rules for the game, such as imposing stricter penalties for game fouls.

And once the Rudiae players reached their homes, they could only place their heads down but what greeted them was the public's warm welcome, praising them for letting the people of Theonia know the strength of Rudiae’s warriors. From then on, the people of Rudiae became obsessed with rugby that they devoted themselves to it and used it as a tool to show the unyielding spirit of the Rudiae to the Theonian Senate. So when the Rudiae team was eliminated in the first round of the champions league, the people of Rudiae were greatly stimulated.

Cheirisophus naturally doesn't understand these deep-seated reasons. Still, he could feel the people of Rudiae attached so much importance to the rugby invented by the Theonians, which indicated that they had recognised Theonia's rule, which made him somewhat depressed.

After all, he had received orders from Agesilaus to learn how the Peucetians and Messapians were doing under Theonia's rule, which is why he chose to take this route instead of taking the ship directly to Thurii. But from his observation, Theonia's rule in Messapi would only become increasingly secure as time passed.

After leaving Rudiae, the carriage continued to head northwest.

A few hours later, they passed through Manduria, a former Messapian fortress that had been the front line of the Tarantine's invasion. But now, the Ninth Legion of Theonia used it as a military post. After all, the land in this place is neither beneficial to farming nor grazing. At the same time, they built the main camp of the Ninth Legion on the plain not far from the north of Rudiae, right in the centre of the Messapian region, which was convenient for when they gathered the citizens of the Messapian towns for training and mobilisation, and also act as surveillance and deterrent for the most restless Messapian city, Rudiae. But since it wasn't next to the road, Cheirisophus naturally didn't see it.

Finally, Cheirisophus arrived at Taranto at dusk.

Cheirisophus had come to Taranto several times, and his impression of Taranto: Although it was once Sparta's colony, it did not inherit the Spartan's bravery, it only conducted a few military training for its citizens annually, and its people didn't have the mentality for battle readiness. But what surprised him when he came into the city this time was that he could see no soldiers patrolling and guarding the city. What’s more, the guards at the gates weren't well armed, and their inspection wasn't strict that all those entering the city could just lift their hands and be let in.

Then Cheirisophus thought about it and soon understood that since Taranto had now become a free city of the kingdom of Theonia and Theonia also conquered Taranto's mortal enemy, the Messapian, they were no longer in danger. And since Theonia had even taken over the task of defending Taranto's territory, it is only natural for their military equipment to be lax.

However, the city of Taranto remained busy even if it was already dusk, with its street crowded, and the stores, bars and brothels…that lined up from the city to the ports had travellers lining up here and there. After all, Taranto became more prosperous after becoming the transportation and trade hub in eastern Theonia.

Cheirisophus then saw some young citizens of Taranto entering and leaving the bars and brothers in droves. Afterwards, they would walk drunkenly in the street and sometimes talk about Taranto's past ‘glory’, venting their dissatisfaction at Theonia and even speaking ill of Sparta's ‘cowardice’…

Cheirisophus could only show a helpless and wry smile on his face as he understood that the ‘cowardice’ meant by the Tarantines was their grudge against Sparta for abandoning them and signing a treaty with Theonia. However, Cheirisophus didn't mind it too much. On the contrary, he felt a slight regret when he saw the current state of the Tarantines, who could only move their lips but didn't even know how to use the shields and spears, making it truly difficult for them to resist Theonia's rule.

At last, Cheirisophus reach the port.

When he was in Sparta, Cheirisophus knew there were special ferry terminals in Taranto's port, where they would load the transport ships with goods and guests. Then the ship would set out from these docks uninterruptedly and arrive at other coastal cities in the Gulf of Taranto; of course, the main destination was Thurii.

Cheirisophus soon boarded the transport ship that led directly to Thurii.

After the transport ship sailed out of the port and into the Gulf of Taranto, numerous ships that covered the always calm gulf filled Cheirisophus’ sight. And even though the sun had fallen behind the mountains and only a few remaining lights shone on the horizon, the sea was still quite lively.