At this time, Burkes was in the city hall being question by the Strategoi of Thurii.
The political system of Thurii is similar to that of Athens. Most of the times, the administrative management of city-states adopts the “10 strategoi responsibility system” (After all, it is a city that was established under the leadership of Athens, but it is also different from that of Athens, which was elected by the general assembly of the citizen. At the time of its establishment, the main immigrants from Thurii came from 10 regions of Greece, namely Arcadia, Achea, Boeotia, Ionia, Athens, Doris…Therefore, the annual election is from the citizens of Thurii in these 10 regions, each electing a Strategos, and the Polemarchos has always been from the descendants of Athens.)
But after the end of the Peloponnesian War and the defeat of Athens, in order to prevent the retaliation of Sparta and the city-states of Magna Graecia that had joined the Spartan Alliance. (such as Taranto, Crotone, Syracuse, etc. which are all strong states) Under the push of Kunogelata. all the descendants of Athens in Thurii were expelled. Currently, there are only “9 Strategoi” left in Thurii, and the polemarchos was re-elected by the council among the nine strategoi that was elected by the various ethnic group. Kunogelata has been the polemarchos for 4 consecutive years, until last year after the tragic defeat of Thurii due to the invasion of Lucania, the great majority had then voted Friis, who they thought that had the most military talent. Although he lost his position as the polemarchos, Kunogelata was still elected as one of the 9 strategoi. After all, his popularity in the Arcadian community is too high.
Now, taking the employment agreement signed by Burkes, he asked, “Burkes, as the person in charge of recruitment, you should know about the price of mercenaries in the whole Greek region. Around how much?”
“Usually about a half daric gold coins a month.” Replied Burkes truthfully.
“Hm, it’s about the same as what I know. I noticed that the first of the 2 employment agreements did follow the half daric gold coins per month, but the second one-” Kunogelata, facing the other generals, said loudly, “They are also the same that have more than 2000 mercenaries, but the payment you gave them is 2 daric gold coin per month!”
When they heard this, the other generals were surprised.
Before Burkes could explain, Kunogelata help up the parchment with the agreement and continued, “Not only that, but also you have signed a half a year’s employment with them. According to the above agreement, no matter whether the war ends or not, you have to pay them 2 daric gold coins every month! Think about it, if the Lucanians put off the attacks according to this agreement, these mercenaries will be able to get nearly 25,000 gold coins without doing anything for half a year!”
“Oh my god, this is too much!” Everyone was shocked once more, another general, Nianses, said angrily, “Last year, in order to prepare military funds to fend off the army of Lucanians attacking Thurii, we took out 300 Taras out of the treasury. As a result, in order to provide for the families of the citizens that were killed in the war, another 50 Taras were taken out. In order to defend against the Lucanians from attacking the city, another 150 Taras were taken out in order to make weapons, repair the city walls, summoning the citizens to be militia. By this year, in order to buy and supply food for the reinforcements and mercenaries of Taranto, as well as another 120 taras to repair the damaged villages, farmland and other facilities, which is not enough! Before the war began, the treasury was almost empty. Before that, we had discussed whether to levy a special war tax on the citizens. This is the wealth accumulated by Thurii over the years and the hard-earned tax income of the citizens! As the strategos in charge of the city’s finance and taxation, I can’t stand such a ridiculous agreement. I refuse to pay them!”
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“Yes, we don’t recognize this agreement!” Most strategoi followed suit.
At this time, the polemarchos, Friis, said, “Kunogelata, the Lucanians are gathering forces in Laus, this news has been confirmed, and we all know that. Therefore, there is no possibility that the Lucanians will not attack in half a year, because they started gathering their army, which made the consumption of their food very huge, and the grain production capacity of the area in Lucania is impossible to support them for half a year, if they cancelled their gathering, it will only weaken the prestige of the chief of the tribal alliance, unless there is a special circumstance, the invasion of the Lucanians will come soon! And in this time of crisis, we need more soldiers to help us resist the attack of the Lucanians!”
“Friis, don’t rule out accidents. For example, people thought that after the victory of the Lucanians, they would attack the city, but in the end, they encountered a plague and were forced to retreat…” Kunogelata retorted, “Whether the enemy attack or not is not the key, the key is that this agreement makes those mercenaries, no matter what the situation, will have gains, while Thurii will be the only one who will suffer loses. That’s the problem! I don’t think the person in charge that you have recommended, Burkes, did his best in his mission! Look at his treatment of the mercenaries, not only the salary, but also this, look…‘The mercenaries led by Davos are only responsible for defending Thurii and fighting back the attacks of Lucanians on Thurii. If there are other missions, they must be decided by the two sides through consultation…’” Kunogelata read aloud the terms of the agreement, then sneered at Burkes and said, “Are you sure that you are recruiting mercenaries, and not the Spartans?! We are the one spending money, we are the master, but now, these mercenaries have become honored guest that we would need to ask their consent for everything! I now have serious doubts that Burkes had a private dealing with this mercenary. I ask for a financial officer to investigate this!”
“Enough, Kunogelata!” Friis finally couldn’t help but shout, “Although I recommended Burkes, but all strategoi had decided it together. Don’t forget that you are the second one to agree! It showed that his ability has been recognized by everyone. In such a short period of time, he went all over the world and worked hard to recruit more than 4,000 soldiers for Thurii. He solved the problems of the shortage of military resources in Thurii at once, he reassured the citizens and guaranteed the security of the city-state! He should have been rewarded by the city-state and thanked by the citizens, but now, he is receiving your humiliation here. Is this how Thurii should treat a citizen who has contributed to the city-state! If so, who will volunteer to work for Thurii in the future!!” Friis’ words put the city hall in a temporary silence.
Burkes said, “I didn’t expect the finance of the city-state would be in such distress! However, the reason why this agreement was signed and these soldiers were recruited was that on the one hand, the situation was urgent at that time, on the other hand, they were worth it! They are not Spartans, but they are not weaker than the Spartans!”
This remark immediately attracted the attention of everyone. Nianses obviously did not believe it and sarcastically said, “We all know that the Spartans have been trained as warriors since they were young, and therefore, they are so fierce once they grow up. Is there a second city-state in this world that adopted a similar system? Oh…are they perhaps the Immortals of Persia that was mentioned in Herodotus’ 《Histories》, are they Persians?”
Burkes looked coldly at Nianses, “These soldiers do have something to do with the Persians!”
“Oh?!” Friis asked with interest, “Do this mercenary have a special origin?”
Burkes saw that the Strategos’ gazes were all focused on himself, and he looked at Polyx, who had kept silent all this time, and calmly said, “After receiving the task assigned by the Strategoi, I had then set out on the same day by ship. As a result, when I passed the Adriatic Sea, I encountered two pirate ships, and was almost captured by them. Fortunately, with the blessings of Poseidon, there was a strong wind, and risking the ship, I escaped and sailed all the way to Crete, and then went ashore to rest and repair the ship. I wanted to recruit some archers there, but the locals told me, ‘It’s alright to recruit a small number of people, but if you need a large number, you would need to get permission from Sparta, because Crete is now part of the Spartan alliance.’ He also told me that most of the mercenaries are now gathered in Asia Minor and suggested that I go there to recruit, but it’s better to first get permission from Sparta. After careful consideration, I decided to go to Sparta.”
Several Strategos were unconsciously nervous. Although they had expelled the citizens of Thurii who were descendants of Athens in order to eliminate the retaliation of the allied city-state of Sparta, and turned the 10 major ethnic groups in Thurii into 9, they still did not know what the attitude of Sparta towards Thurii.