"They're far away, and of course it's too late to get here." Phelis comforted him and said, "The Fifth Legion owes you the Fourth Legion a favor, and they will repay it to you in the future."

Epitensis sneered: "Master Commander, do you think Dracos is a person who knows how to be grateful?"

……………………………

While the Syracuse army landed in Locre, the army led by Davers had arrived at Picosis. Before, he had sent a messenger to inform Picosis that the Chief Executive Anta Oris must strictly block the news that the army had reached. For this reason, Anta Oris even sent only five small warships in the port to temporarily intercept the merchant ships heading north and forced them to temporarily dock at Picosis port, causing complaints. However, when Davers arrived at Picosis heard this, he praised Anta Oris for his decisive and careful work and dared to take responsibility.

At this time, Anta Oris was accompanying the consul Davers to inspect the city and port of Picosis. Davers was quite satisfied with the order and construction of the entire city. He asked: "How many Dionian citizens are there in Picosis now?"

"There are 4,523 formal citizens, 3,351 preparatory citizens, 5,117 registered free citizens, a total of 12,991 people, and the entire population of Picosis is about 53,000..." Anta Oris said with knowledge.

"Oh, Picossis has a large population!" Davers was a little surprised.

"Sir, Picossis was originally a big city in Lucania that is no less than Grummentum and Potendia, and it is also a coastal city. Its attractiveness to Greek free people is much greater than that of Lucanian cities such as Grummentum and Niutum." Anta Oris said proudly.

"So, there are many Greeks who come here to settle?" Davers asked immediately.

"Yes. The Greek official citizens of Dionia, with the total number of preparatory citizens and free citizens, are about 4,230. This number is increasing every day, mainly because of Greeks from Tampalia."

"After just three years, the Greeks of Picossis were almost half of the population!" Davers was shocked again, and then asked worriedly: "Do they have many conflicts with the Lucanians?"

"There are some, but not too fierce." Anta Oris said with a relaxed expression: "Because Picoses had experienced many defeats before they were incorporated into our Dionia, the young and middle-aged Lucans in the city of Picoses were seriously injured and killed. Not only did they vacant a lot of land, but most of the remaining people also lost their courage and blood. Moreover, their tribal settlements were mostly in the eastern mountainous areas, mainly grazing. The Greeks here all prefer flat lands near the sea, so the two sides can still be at peace. And... Well, the Greeks, mainly Campania, are somewhat similar to the Lucans in their living habits, and the two sides get along well..."

"It seems that you enjoy your life here! And you, the Chief Executive, have done a good job and know very well about the situation of the city's citizens!..." Davers praised him, and at the same time, he was interested in what he said before, and asked again: "Mr. Anta Oris, please tell me what other characteristics of this Campanian?"

"Sir, the Greeks in Campania are the Greeks who are the least Greeks I have seen except for us Dionys."

Anta Oris's words caught Davers' attention: "Oh, how do you say this?"

Anta Oris thought about it and said seriously: "I guess it may be because the Greeks in Campania have always been surrounded by alien races (there are Volsie people in the north, the Lucans in the south, the Samonets in the east, and the Phoenicians in the west), so on the one hand, compared with the Greeks who like freedom in other places, the Campania are very united and like to work together; on the other hand, some of their living habits are influenced by their surrounding neighbors, such as eating beef and mutton, and worshiping some gods that do not belong to Greece. For example, some Campanians also built Savoni (the god of war worship of the Samonets), who believed that the harm of wild animals could be avoided... In Picossis, their characteristics were also very obvious."

Davers smiled and said earnestly: "We have Greeks, Lucans, Brutis in our alliance, and now there are Campania Greeks. There may be more races to join this alliance. Therefore, when dealing with conflicts between ethnic groups, we must first hold a principle - tolerant, tolerate their religion and tolerate their living habits; secondly, justice, anyone and any race are equal under the laws of Dionian and cannot be favored; and also guide and guide them to like our lifestyle, entertainment, competition, military training... The most important thing is religion. Hades is the patron god of Dionia. Don't forget this! As time goes by, I believe that no matter who they were before, they will eventually become Dionians!"

Anta Oris listened carefully, then nodded in conscientiously and said, "Mr. Davers, you are so right!"

"I'm just moving my mouth. Actually, you're already doing this in managing this city, right?" Davers smiled self-deprecatingly: "If you want these races to merge faster, it's best to find common ground between them. During this period, I discussed with Ansitanos and found a secret-"

Davers looked at Anta Oris, and saw that he was listening attentively, and said in a stressful tone: "Hercules, the Hercules, is very famous among all races in Italy, and some tribes even claim to be descendants of his descendants... I am going to propose in the Senate, 'Building the temple of Hercules in Turie, and starting his celebrations so that the people of all races of Dionia will celebrate this god'... Alas, it was just temporarily suspended because of the outbreak of the war. I think Picoses can try to do it first, what do you think?"

"Sir, you are a good idea!" Anta Oris praised sincerely: "In fact, there are already several Altars of Hercules in Picosis, both on the Lucanian and Campanians. I will try my best to build a great temple of Hercules, so that Picosis will become the center of the sacrifice of Hercules in this area!"

"Are you planning to steal the limelight from Turiyi? I'm afraid Kunogorata will fight you." Davers said jokingly, and the two of them laughed.

The two were chatting and laughing on the way back to the town hall. In this harmonious atmosphere, no one mentioned Orikpus and Pleades. In fact, there was no need to mention it, because it was a thing of the past.

Back at the town hall, the commander of the First Legion Antonios, and the commander of the Second Legion Amintas were already waiting there.

"Sir, the camp has been built and the soldiers have begun to rest." Antonios saw Davers coming in and immediately stepped forward to report: "In addition, the messenger from the Third Legion has heard news that the Third Legion is on the way to Picosis and is expected to arrive at dusk."

"Tell me, this Alexis actually retreated from Potendia before he had fought head-on with the Samones. This is too embarrassing to our Dionian Legion!" Amintas sneered dissatisfiedly.

"If the Third Army Tu really fought head-on with the Samonets army, I'm afraid I can only take you with less than 20,000 people in the First and Second Army to face the huge force of Samonets' more than 40,000 troops. How can I fight this battle?! Alexis abandoned his reputation for the victory of the entire war. This safe approach is undoubtedly very correct! It should be worth learning from you, especially you, Amintas!" Davers said seriously. The encounter between the Third Army in Potendia was a few days ago. Davers had learned the detailed story from Anta Oris.

Amintas snored a few words in discontent, and did not dare to speak loudly.

"Sir, the Samone seems to be more fierce. First, they set up an ambush, and then took the initiative to send a large army to attack head-on, without giving the Third Legion a chance to breathe." Antonios interrupted: "If we knew that we were going to attack Posedonia, would the Samones send another army to fight?!"

"It's better if the Samonets dare to come, but they're afraid they won't come!" Davers began to carefully analyze the plan he had been considering these days to the three people in the living room: "According to information, the Samonets have always won more and lost more when they fight with the Lucanians in the past, and the Campanians have been attacked by them for many years. I believe the Samonets have always been very proud of their combat abilities. In addition, this is the first time that the Samonets have dispatched so many warriors, which may have encouraged their arrogant arrogance. Among them is the credit of the Syracuse people-" he said, looking at Anta Oris.

Anta Oris nodded and said, "The warships patrolling our ports have repeatedly reported that, 'I found a large number of cargo ships from Syracuse heading north and entering the port of Poseidonia.' I think they are most likely to have transported grain to the Samones."

"Damn Syracuse!" Amintas cursed angrily and shouted: "Sir, we should quickly capture Poseidonia while the Samones are not aware of our arrival!"

"This is a solution." Davers did not nod and continued, "But Anta Oris told me that the Samones had their own port town, Irna, to the south of Campania. Otherwise, they would not have dared to dispatch an army of more than 40,000 people before capturing Poseidonia. Only taking down Poseidonia was just to add some trouble to the Syracuses to transport grain, but it would have prolonged the time for us to repel them. Moreover, Dionysius of Syracuse was already preparing to invade Greece, so we cannot engage in a lasting war of attrition with the Samones!"
Chapter completed!