Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 923: The Surrender of Satricum

Before setting out, one of the Roman soldiers had been nursing a low-grade fever, but he kept it hidden. Over the past two days, any man who ran a temperature had been pulled from the ranks and never seen again. Once inside the Daionian camp, however, the soldier's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Standing at attention for so long drained whatever strength he had left. He suddenly vomited and collapsed. The other Roman soldiers scattered in panic, as if they had just seen a ghost. Although Aurus, Maecius, and the other commanders had taken measures inside the city to slow the plague's spread and strictly forbade rumors to prevent panic, too many men had dropped in the last two days. The soldiers had inevitably heard the whispers.

The Romans' erratic behavior instantly caught the attention of the Daionian officers. Since the Daionian Army was obligated to treat any captive who collapsed, they immediately called for a doctor.

The physician who arrived was none other than Critos, the studious man Davos had once praised at the Magna Graecia Medical Forum. For the past two years, he had been studying under Hippocrates, who had remained in Thurii to dedicate himself to medicine. Because Hippocrates had extensively researched plagues, Critos had naturally absorbed a wealth of knowledge on the subject. But since the Kingdom of Daionia had never suffered an outbreak, he simply hadn't had the chance to put that theory into practice.

After carefully examining the fallen soldier and his vomit, Critos grew suspicious. Thrumming with excitement, he immediately sent for Stesichodas to confirm his findings. The two conferred on the spot and decided to report this to Davos at once.

When Ctesus heard their conclusion, the cohort commander was shocked. His first instinct was to arrest the Roman soldiers and interrogate them, but he knew such a drastic move could trigger a severe diplomatic incident. Choosing caution, he ordered his men to quarantine the Romans immediately and hurried to the main tent with Stesichodas.

As it turned out, a sudden bluff from Davos was all it took to make Aurus slip up.

Although he vehemently denied it afterward, Davos laid down a threat: if Aurus did not tell the truth, Daionia would refuse the City of Satricum's surrender and leave its garrison to be destroyed by the plague.

Under the pressure, Aurus was forced to admit the truth: Satricum had likely been struck by a plague.

But he immediately argued that it had only just begun; the situation was not severe, so they had not paid it much attention.

Ultimately, his deception laid bare, Aurus chose to yield—especially since the garrison included many men from the Comineneus Clan. He obediently resumed negotiations with Henipolis, Tolmides, and the medical director, Stesichodas, to discuss the treatment of the garrison following their surrender.

Afterward, a dejected Aurus carried the agreement back into the city to discuss the terms with Maecius and the others.

The moment Aurus departed, Davos immediately declared the entire Daionian camp on high alert. He ordered Stesichodas to lead all the doctors in conducting a detailed medical examination of every soldier in the encampment, focusing especially on the Roman soldiers who had previously sneaked out of the city, and to ensure they were quarantined. Meanwhile, the Engineering Brigade was tasked with boiling down massive quantities of quicklime to spread around the camp's perimeter. The Supply Camp was ordered to produce countless thick linen strips for the soldiers to wear over their mouths and noses at all times. All competitions and training were immediately suspended; the men were forbidden from gathering and ordered to stay inside their tents as much as possible during the day. Furthermore, a vigorous campaign was launched to exterminate the camp's rats and drive away the mosquitoes...

In truth, the Daionian Army had already been strictly adhering to some of these measures; this time, they were simply being re-emphasized.

Davos also ordered the soldiers of each legion to take shifts building three smaller, temporary camps at a distance from the main encampment.

Davos also had the legion officers speak frankly to the soldiers: a plague had broken out in Satricum, and the garrison was going to surrender. They did not need to be afraid, as the doctors had made meticulous preparations, and His Majesty had prayed to Hades and received his blessing.

Ever since the founding of Daionia, Davos had prioritized the kingdom's medical development. Drawing on hygiene knowledge from his past life, he knew that a plague was actually an acute infectious disease. As long as environmental sanitation was consistently maintained, disease sources—such as rats, mosquitoes, flies, and corpses—were minimized as much as possible, and suspicious areas were promptly disinfected with a cheap and effective material like quicklime... then even in this era of frequent plagues, it was entirely possible to reduce their occurrence within the kingdom.

Precisely because he had consistently taught this knowledge to the doctors and forcefully implemented it across the realm in his capacity as king, and combined with the arrival years ago of Hippocrates, who possessed rich experience in treating plagues, the Kingdom of Daionia had never suffered an outbreak. Even during the severe drought the previous year, the entire kingdom's vigilance had spared the populace from the traditional rule that "a great plague inevitably follows a great disaster."

Thus, the vast majority of the soldiers in the encampment had only heard of the plague's terrors but had never experienced it firsthand. Coupled with the personal guarantee of King Davos—the descendant of Hades—they felt no panic, and order within the camp remained fairly stable.

A day later, the garrison of Satricum formally surrendered to Daionia, and the Roman dictator Camillus passed away from his illness after announcing the surrender.

News of his death from illness rapidly spread through the city, plunging all the Roman soldiers and the residents of Satricum into grief.

When the city gates opened, Camillus's body, resting on a carriage, was the first to be carried out. The ranks of the Roman soldiers followed closely behind. Their faces were sorrowful and tense, and they wore no armor and carried no weapons, dressed only in plain white mourning clothes.

The Daionian soldiers stood in full armor, holding their shields and spears with thick linen masking their mouths and noses. Heads held high, they formed two dense columns that stretched from the city gates all the way to the newly constructed camps, leaving a wide avenue for passage in the middle.

The Roman soldiers advanced along this path and were halted just as they neared the end.

Davos led his generals to the front of the carriage.

Davos gazed at Camillus's withered body lying flat in the carriage. He solemnly gave three bows to this man, known in the history of his past life as the Father of Rome, and the generals and ministers behind him naturally followed suit.

Seeing this scene, the initially restless Roman soldiers, though they did not understand the meaning of the gesture, could deeply feel the respect the Daionian king and his ministers held for Camillus. One by one, they quieted down.

At this time, Davos, who was also masked with linen, turned to face the Daionian generals and officials. He pulled down his mask and declared in a resonant voice, "Camillus, a Roman citizen. From the time he came of age, he continuously participated in Rome's wars with surrounding city-states and achieved repeated merits in battle. Over twenty years ago, as the Romans grew in strength, they turned to attack their most important enemy—Veii. When the other Roman generals were entirely at a loss on how to capture the city, the Roman Senate appointed Camillus as commander. Through meticulous planning, he ultimately conquered Veii, a city no smaller in scale than Rome itself.

"But his achievements drew the envy of certain Roman citizens, leading someone to accuse him of embezzlement and blasphemy in the Ecclesia. Incredibly, the ignorant masses passed the proposal. Under Roman law, the charges were established, and he was to be exiled. Although furious at this outcome, Camillus accepted his punishment, left Rome, and settled in a nearby Latin city-state.

"Over a decade ago, the Celts invaded the south in massive numbers and occupied Rome. Deeply concerned for his motherland, Camillus called upon the people of the Latium region to rise up and resist the Celtic invasion. Through continuous battles with the Celts, he gradually organized a large army and ultimately drove them back.

"When the Romans bestowed immense glory upon him in gratitude for restoring Rome, he did not sit back and enjoy the credit. Instead, he pondered how the Romans could defeat the formidable Celts in future battles. He chose a grueling path, setting out to reform centuries of military tradition and create a new military system that would make the Roman army stronger and more combative.

"Ultimately, he succeeded. The Roman army, trained under his reformed military system, repeatedly achieved victory in wars against surrounding powers. Whenever Rome encountered difficulty and danger, the first person the people thought of was Camillus. Disregarding his aging body, Camillus repeatedly answered the Roman Senate's call, leading the Roman citizens in victorious campaigns in all directions. As a result, within a mere ten years of its restoration, Rome became the hegemon of central Italy and a nightmare for other races. If—"

Davos gazed at the bright red Roman standard on the carriage and sighed emotionally, "If our Kingdom of Daionia did not exist on the lands of Italy... perhaps Rome, this Latin city-state nurtured by the Tiber River, armed with the new military system established by Camillus, would have continued to grow stronger. They might have even become the hegemon of Italy, the hegemon of the Western Mediterranean..."

Hearing this, the generals standing behind Davos, such as Amyntas, Matonis, and Lizarus, felt slightly unconvinced in their hearts. But on such an occasion, how could they dare to rashly interrupt?

Behind the carriage, Aurus was stunned when he heard this. He had never expected the Daionian King to hold Rome in such high regard. In his heart, he suddenly seemed to understand: why the Daionian King dared to ignore Carthage's invasion and personally lead a massive army to attack Rome, a city that had no direct conflict of interest with the Kingdom of Daionia.

But would Rome truly have had as good a prospect as he described? Aurus found himself fascinated by the thought, but when he recalled their current situation, he could not help but let out a heavy sigh.