Chapter 442: Entrapment

That was also one of the reasons why Bodiam and Petaru are rebelling: The Theonian court is more popular in Bruttii, almost leading to the disappearance of the tribal chieftain’s authority and may lead to the disintegration of the tribe.

On the other hand, besides the Temple of Hades and Hera, there are other temples in Consentia, such as the temples of the goddess Maara, Brutus – the protector of the Bruttians, and Heracles. Thus whenever there is a celebration, the Praetor – whether he believes in that god and goddesses or not, must offer a ceremony in these temples to show respect, which was a strict rule made by the Senate for the praetors. For example, there is also a Temple of Asinu, the god of Lucania, in Grumentum.

There is also a training camp outside the city of Consentia, while the Military Department in the inner city was mainly to check and register the people of each tribe who can fight. Inspect their weapons and equipment, notify and urge the Bruttians on the roster to participate in the training, check and count their achievements, and cooperate with the city hall to give them rewards, such as land.

This department also has to perform some confidential tasks, such as understanding the strength and growth of the various tribes and secretly encouraging those tribesmen to stand on their own, which is another important reason for Petaru’s dissatisfaction.

The outside of the city was originally where the great chieftain of Consentia – Pian, forcibly relocated the small tribes of Bruttii. But after Theonia took over the city, the small tribes were divided into their own rule and settled outside the city. Besides acting as a barrier to protect the periphery of Consentia, they also fend off the harassment of wild animals, such as wolves, to the city at night, bringing peace to Consentia.

And now, the outside of the city has the largest livestock trading market in the whole of Magna Graecia, where not only merchants from within the Union comes, but even the Scylletians, Terinians, and Crotonians would go out of their way just to buy here as the prices of the Bruttian horses and other livestock were a bit cheaper than the big market in Thurii.

The arena is also located here, where rugby, football and horse races are often held, and the Bruttians are no less obsessed with these games than the Thurians as they could even vent their normally repressed wildness on and off the field.

A theatre was also built outside the city, but the Bruttians was less interested in it than the arena. You could even describe it as bleak for a while. However, those who dared to open these theatres in Consentia were very smart and soon found that the Bruttians were not interested in irony, humour, wisdom and human destiny of the Greek drama, but in the stories of the Greek gods, especially the adventures of Heracles, a mighty god, who used his courage and wisdom to constantly defeat powerful enemies and taking countless beautiful women, which were much more attractive to the Bruttians. After all, they are descendants of Heracles in the Bruttian legends. Hence, the theatre owners began to stage many stories regarding the Greek gods, developing numerous fans of the play with their simple language and dramatic storylines and giving the Bruttians an understanding of the Greek culture and traditions.

The school was also located outside the city. Initially, it was as unpopular as the theatre when it was established but has now become quite popular due to the increasing number of independent Bruttians. Consentia has allowed Bruttians who have left their tribes to live in the outer area, purchasing land at a low cost and even allowing them to rent with the repayment period of up to ten years. Due to this, more and more Bruttians broke away from their tribes, and most chose to live in Consentia because it was the centre of the Bruttian region. And the increase of population in Consentia’s urban area, in turn, contributed to the prosperity of the city. After the independent Bruttians opened their eyes, it was only natural for them to go to school in order to make a better development for themselves and their children.

Now the outer area of Consentia was almost filled with Bruttians, with the inns and restaurants are completely filled with customers every day. The Praetor of Consentia had even proposed to the Senate for the city of Consentia’s continuous expansion outward.

Different from the expansion of Thurii, the expansion of Consentia means that the more Bruttian population under the direct management of its city hall, the more stable the Bruttian region would be. After all, half of the soldiers of the fifth legion came from the various tribe, while the other half came exclusively from the Bruttians under Consentia.

This is also another main reason for the rebellion of Bodiam, Petaru and Kaduk. For the tribe, their tribe members are like water; with abundant water, the tribe can have a good harvest, but with Theonia secretly pumping away the water, the farm could only wither. So how could Petaru wait for their death?!

And it is precisely because the Theonian Senate moved the various tribes out of the city that Kaduk dared to sneak back to Consentia as he didn’t have to risk being investigated by the city guards.

Kaduk’s tribe’s location was on the Crati River near the city of Consentia.

It is a land abundant in water and grasses, a reward given by Davos to Kaduk. With the Bruttian region achieving peace and unity, there is no longer a need for wooden walls, fences around the tribal settlement and someone to watch at night. Only the hounds are left outside the huts to watch out for wild animals trying to take their livestock.

Kaduk, who returned here several times a year, was surprised and relieved to see that the usually scattered hounds were not around.

With his men in tow, he got around one of the thatched huts and walked towards the largest courtyard in the centre.

“Knock! Knock! Knock!…”

“Who is it?”

“Open the door. The great chieftain is back!”

“Who?”

“Open the door. It’s me! Kaduk!”

Perhaps after he heard a familiar voice, the one in the courtyard opened a crack in the door, held up an oil lamp to look outside, and hurriedly opened the door.

“Great chieftain, why have you returned at this time?!”

Kaduk went straight in without answering him.

After his men came inside, they hurriedly closed the door, stood around the yard, and looked around with vigilance.

“Where is Vito?” But no sooner had Kaduk uttered this sentence, a surprised voice sounded in front of him, “Great chieftain, you are back! Why did you not inform me in advance so that I could send someone to greet you?”

Vito stepped out of the living room with a surprised look on his face.

After saying that, he lit the fire pit in the centre, brightening the whole courtyard.

Kaduk frowned at the excited Vito,  “Keep your voice down! Go and call Daru, Girian and Kerak, as I have something important to say!” Kaduk said in a serious tone. He had appointed Vito, who was famous, gentle and lack of courage among his men, as the tribe’s chieftain so that he wouldn’t lose control of the tribe while he was far away from Consentia living in Thurii, serving as a statesman. At the same time, he appointed three loyal chieftains to assist Vito in managing the tribes, and if there are any important matters to be discussed, the four of them will make the decisions. But in fact, it is often difficult for the four to reach an agreement, so they have to send someone to Thurii to ask him to make the final decision. That is why even though he is far away in Thurii, he still controls the tribe.

“It’s already so late. What are you going to discuss with them anyway?” Vito was puzzled but also a bit reluctant.

“Go and call them! Why do you need to ask so many questions!” Kaduk became a bit impatient.

“Tarik, quickly call all three of them.” Vito could only helpless give the order to his subordinate.

“Yes!” Tarik immediately carried the oil lamp and was about to go out –

“You go with him.” Kaduk said, pointing to one of his followers, who was still on guard at the moment.

The two then opened the gate and went out while Kaduk led Vito into the meeting room.

“Great chieftain, what’s the important thing that happened?” Vito asked suspiciously.

Kaduk looked at him and said, “We must lead our people out of here before tomorrow morning!”

“Why?!” Vito was startled.

“Because the Syracusans are coming! Now the Theonia Union is almost finished! For the survival of our tribe, we must hurry to join Syracuse!” Kaduk tried to look grave, but his voice seemed too exaggerated.

“…we…are we going to betray Theonia?…” Vito’s expression drastically changed as he trembling said.

“WHAT BETRAYAL?!” Kaduk immediately became furious, “This is Bruttii, the place where our ancestors lived for generations! The Theonians forcibly occupied this place by force and took away our freedom! Now, we will just break away from Theonia’s control, but once Syracuse completely defeats Theonia, we will take this land back!” Kaduk swung his fist and said in a tone filled with hatred. Over the past few years, the repressed life in Thurii had made him angry. At this moment, the light from the brazier reflected on his angry and twisted face, which looked ferocious and terrifying.

“Defection is defection, and the severest punishment under the Theonian Law is death!” A voice rang out abruptly at the back of the meeting room. Then the light from the brazier cast a figure on the wall.

Kaduk became shocked when he heard these words and subconsciously stared at Vito. But this short and fat old man actually moved away from Kaduk with unprecedented swiftness.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen men poured out of the room. Then the man at the front had his face illuminated – it was Hielos.

“Run, there is an ambush!” Kaduk was shocked. He immediately turned and ran back while he loudly reminded his men.

However, the door was pushed open. Then heavily armed soldiers rushed in.

“Take them all!” Hielos coldly ordered.

Soon, Kaduk and his men were captured.

“Hielos…I…I rushed back to deal with the tribe’s urgent matters, but you broke into my tribe’s meeting room without any reason, wounded my men, and tied me up…quickly…release me! Otherwise, I will charge…charge you for your crime to the Senate! Which…would alarm my people, and once they see how you treat their chieftain, they will certainly cause a riot. And once there is a huge riot, I am afraid that the position of the Praetor of Consentia that you just got will be taken back by the Senate! Release me, and we will talk it over.” Although Kaduk had his hands tied behind his back and pinned to the ground, he still tried making threats stubbornly.

“If you have any grievance, wait until you are escorted back to the Senate to complain.” Said Hielos as he didn’t want to speak with him anymore. He then turned to Vito and said, “I will report your merits to the Senate, but your primary task now is to stabilise your entire tribe. There must not be any unrest, and I will also send someone to assist you to stabilise the situation. At the same time, the Senate will pay attention to your performance and decide whether to let you succeed in this traitor as a statesman of the Senate. Work hard.”

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