Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1113: The Daionian Military Camp on the Northern Border

Since no replacement had arrived to take over, many soldiers believed that if Maximus served as acting officer for another year, he would gather enough seniority to be officially promoted to Supply Officer.

Maximus shared this belief, though he knew the real reason. Rising from an obscure freed slave with no backing to holding a crucial post in the Border Legion in just one year—and likely becoming a mid-level military officer of the Kingdom of Daunia within the next two—certainly had something to do with his competence, but it was far more likely the work of the Intelligence Department behind the scenes. Regardless, this greatly accelerated his path to becoming a kingdom citizen.

Because of this, he no longer felt so bitter about being recruited into the Intelligence Department.

Few people walked the streets inside the military camp. They were either off-duty soldiers who had finished their guard shifts the previous day, idly wandering and chatting by the roadside, or men assigned to daily chores like sweeping the streets, hauling garbage, and feeding livestock. No matter who saw Maximus passing by, however, they would respectfully call out, "Good morning, Lord Maximus!"

Naturally, Maximus would politely return their greetings.

The Supply Officer held the vast authority to purchase and distribute supplies, practically making him the soldiers' provider. During Maximus's time as acting officer, he had not only proven fair and impartial, but had also vastly improved both the flow of supplies and the quality of their three daily meals. Thus, despite his background as a mere registered freeman, he had won the soldiers' genuine respect.

Maximus thoroughly enjoyed this respect; it meant his abilities were recognized by the men. He no longer resented camp life as strongly as he had in the beginning, and he had finally started to settle into it. Naturally, this was also because his position as an officer granted him more leave throughout the year, allowing him to return to Thurii more frequently to see his wife and children.

Exchanging greetings along the way, Maximus arrived at the center of the camp.

Aside from the camp headquarters, the most important building here was the granary. To properly preserve food, the engineers from the Department of Construction had racked their brains to design the Public Granary of Daunia. It was a narrow, two-story structure with few, small windows to prevent heat and rainy humidity from rotting the provisions. Yet, to keep the interior cool and ventilated, several vents were built around the very bottom. The first-floor boards were suspended above these vents, ensuring that even if rats and other pests crawled inside, they could not bypass the floorboards to ruin the grain. To prevent the walls from cracking under the immense pressure of piled goods, buttresses reinforced the exterior. Several large, dry wooden bins stood inside to store the staple ingredient for the soldiers' meals: flour. When the men needed it, they simply opened a chute at the bottom of a bin, and the flour poured out. This kept the supply largely sealed, naturally extending its shelf life.

The purchasing supervisor hurried over to report. "Lord Maximus, the Etruscans delivered twenty tons of flour this time. I sent six tons each to the camps at Lucca and Arretium, leaving eight tons here." (Note: The Etruscan League had ceded the lands along the entire northern and northwestern borders to Daionia. Based on the terrain and the frequency of Gallic raids, the Ministry of Military Affairs had established camps near three Etruscan border cities: Lucca, Florentia, and Arretium.)

Maximus carefully inspected the ledger and the signatures, then frowned. "The autumn harvest just ended. I haven't heard of any crop failures among the Etruscan city-states. They shouldn't be providing such a meager amount of grain."

"The Etruscans claimed the wheat was just harvested and time was tight," the purchasing supervisor explained. "They said they were short on manpower and hadn't milled much flour, but offered to provide the raw wheat directly if we were willing to mill it ourselves. I refused, because we're short on hands too, and we don't have enough millstones. So, the Etruscans could only promise to deliver another batch of grain in half a month."

"You made the right call. Hmm, half a month..." Maximus calculated briefly before adding, "Our reserves are enough to last until then, but keep a close eye on it. Keep pressuring the Etruscans so they don't delay."

"Understood."

"Our transport ships should be arriving soon as well, right?"

"They should be here within the next few days."

"When you go to Pisae (a coastal Etruscan town near Lucca) to unload the supplies, don't forget to remind them to ship more mutton and woolen garments next time. The winters here are quite cold, and several soldiers suffered frostbite last year. Let's hope we can make it through safely this year.

"I heard the prices of cattle and sheep at the livestock market in Thurii have plummeted this year. That's because the various tribes in central Italy have all been driving their herds to Thurii to sell, flooding the market... I'm sure the Ministry of Military Affairs can easily fulfill our request."

"I'll make a note of it."

"Later, when you have the laborers move the flour inside, try to leave half of the granary empty. Then, gather more hay and store it inside. Winter is fast approaching, and we need to stockpile plenty of fodder for the livestock and warhorses..."

"Yes, sir."

...

While giving these instructions to the purchasing supervisor, Maximus watched the laborers haul sack after sack of flour down from the ox carts and carry them into the granary.

Meanwhile, his trusted tally clerk diligently verified the flour count to ensure it matched the supervisor's claims.

Even after the clerk confirmed the numbers, Maximus did not immediately sign the ledger. He would return to the granary in the afternoon to conduct a final inspection once the entire unloading process was finished.

For now, he took his leave. His next stop was the armory. The Supply Camp managed more than just food reserves; overseeing the stockpiles of weapons and equipment was an equally important duty. Yesterday, a company deployed from the camp had repelled the Gauls raiding the territory of Florentia. They had returned too late in the evening for him to get a detailed breakdown of equipment wear and captured spoils. According to Maximus's habits, such confirmations were meant to be completed on the same day. Pushing it back to today already felt like a delay in his duties.

The armory was built relatively close to the camp gates to allow for the convenient distribution of gear when the army marched out.

In truth, not many weapons or suits of armor were stored inside. They had long been distributed to the soldiers, who were responsible for their maintenance and upkeep. During their downtime, these armors, large shields, thrusting spears, short swords, and javelins were kept in the barracks. If a piece of equipment was damaged beyond use outside of combat, the soldier even had to pay compensation, as all of these weapons belonged to the kingdom. Unlike the troops in the Regular Legions, who owned their personal wargear, the Border Legion's equipment was state property.

The armory primarily housed tents, quilts, blankets, shovels, spades, and other military supplies, alongside consumable munitions like arrows and javelins, plus a small reserve of armor and weapons.

When Maximus arrived, he learned that the armory keeper had already transported a batch of javelins and arrows out of the camp to the drill grounds.

Across the various military camps within Daionia's borders, drill grounds were mostly located inside the camp walls and could easily double as fields for the Rugby championship and football matches. However, the three camps situated on the northern Etruscan border lacked internal drill grounds. This was largely because their respective garrisons were relatively small, and rapid reinforcements were difficult to secure. To optimize their defenses, the camps' footprints had to be kept as tight as possible. Consequently, massive military facilities like the drill grounds had to be built outside.

Learning that Maximus intended to leave the camp, his attendant quickly brought him a horse from the stables.

Maximus mounted up, passed the guards' inspection, and rode out of the camp.

A fifty-meter radius outside the camp was entirely covered by a trench system. Radiating outward from the walls were abatis, deep trenches, shallow ditches, lily beds (deep pits with sharpened stakes buried inside), and meat hooks...

As he rode out, Maximus caught a glimpse of a squad leader directing his soldiers to lay logs bristling with sharp, jagged branches into the shallow ditches.

It was precisely because of these defenses that the military camp had remained untouched, even though the Gauls frequently raided the region.

Past the trap zone lay the civilian settlement. The families of the Border Legion soldiers were not allowed to accompany the army, but ever since the camp was established, a number of Etruscan civilians had naturally migrated to settle nearby. They believed the close protection of Daionian soldiers would keep them safe, and indeed, they rarely suffered attacks from the Gauls. (The Senate of Daionia had long since passed a resolution: Etruscan civilians were permitted to settle in the Kingdom of Daunia's new northern border territories. There, they could lease farmland and apply to become Daionian Citizens under the new Immigration Act.)

Furthermore, some Etruscan merchants had opened shops here to earn coin from the Border Legion soldiers. Pottery stalls, blacksmiths, cobblers, tailors, and butchers lined the main road one after another. Naturally, the most popular establishments among the soldiers were the taverns.

The men who fought in yesterday's battle had all been granted a day off today. Several of them had requested leave from their officers to head out and drink at the taverns.

Ordering a jug of watered-down wine, a pitcher of cloudy ale, a plate or two of stewed chickpeas, and a platter of sliced cured meat... the bill was barely a drop in the bucket for these soldiers, who earned a regular monthly wage. Yet, it was enough for a squad to sit around a table, drink, and chat the better part of the day away.