“You don't have to worry about that. There are still the Tarant(Taranto) coins left by Meno in the camp, and during our way back to Greece we acquired a lot of supplies through fighting and…snatching….except those that were allocated to the soldiers and others, there are still some Tarant left. In addition, Mariji and Mersis also made a lot of money in the market that they have previously build. Logically speaking, all these should belong to the mercenary leader…I will talk to Mersis and ask him to give you all the money.” Davos counted his savings for the past six months.
“Bank lending invites hatred, and few bankers can do what Pasion did. As the archon of Amendolara, I'm afraid that it will invite criticism or even opposition from others!” Instead of being surprised by the wealth of Davos, Cheiristoya cautioned him with concern.
Davos smiled with gratification, “If you can think like this, then it seems that my choice of asking you to open a bank is not wrong!” He put his arms around Cheiristoya's delicate body and said softly, “Why money lending is hated? That's because the interest demanded by the Greek city-state money lenders are generally too high! I heard that the lowest interest rate is 20%, and once the borrower is unable to pay back the money, then his land will be taken to pay off the debt, and his family will be destroyed. Of course, that is not what I want. As the archon for life of Amendolara, I hope that every citizen of Amendolara will have a good life, so that our city-state will be rich and strong. And the bank itself can promote the development of the city-state trade, but the greedy practices of the bankers have ruined its reputation, and so, I want you to open this bank-” Said Davos, “The interest shall not exceed 5%!”
“Only 5%?!” Exclaimed Cheiristoya is surprise.
“Only with such a low interest rate can the citizens who have the ability to do business have the confidence to borrow money and to realize their ideal. Only in this way can the citizens who are in urgent need of money be saved from the terrible usury and their hope for life can be restored….I believe that the bank you will build will speed up the recovery of the economy of Amendolara after the war and promote the great development of its trade.” Said Davos confidently.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the next day, these new citizens, who were usually busy with battles and doesn't care about their appearance with their hair being fluffy and a messy beard, while wearing shabby clothes, have cleaned up the tents in the square early and tried to make themselves as clean as possible. They changed into Doric-style chiton made of light linen, so they all looked tall and straight.
As they wait on the square with expectant faces. When the whole square was covered with sunshine, the women of Amendolara appeared. They came by groups under the leadership of an old woman, with curiosity on their shy faces. Although the Greek woman's clothes were extremely simple, they tried their best to dress themselves up, by adjusting the density of the sagging folds of the chiton to make the long skirt look elegant and beautiful, and they fastened exquisite metal ornaments and buttons on the joints of their shoulders and cuffs in order to increase their charm. They also combed their hair according to their own situation, and apply dark or light make-up on their faces to make them look younger and more attractive.
When the new citizens saw them, they were just like bees seeing flowers, and they no longer maintain their demeanor as they flocked to them and tried their best to talk to the woman they liked in order to attract her attention.
On the sidelines, Davos asked a couple of musician to play the lyre and aulus, which add a romantic atmosphere to the “large-scale blind date event” in Amendolara.
In fact, the situation on the square soon became less romantic and more heated. After all, beautiful women will always attract many pursuers and even cause conflicts. At this time, Davos will show up in time with his patrol team and warn both sides with his prestige, and then ask the wishes of the heroine of the conflict…
When a group of men and women became attracted to each other, some of them would leave the venue and take a walk along the mountain path to continue their talk in order to improve their understanding. While the others would directly go to Raphias, who was waiting by the square, and to tell him that they were willing to get married. So Raphias will register the names of the two parties and allow the women to take him home (in fact, in the Greek tradition, they must first get married before they can live together. However, Davos convinced Cornelius that they only need to obtain an official confirmation and registration of Amendolara, to be husband and wife, and they will only need to owe a wedding, which they can make up for later.)
It is not only the men who actively pursue women, as some of the older or less attractive women will also take the initiative to talk to the men they like to show their advantages, such as being good at weaving, making wine, making olive oil or showing off that they are of noble origin and have rich families.
By the afternoon, there were few women left in the square, but there were still a lot of men.
At this time, Davos notice at one of the corner of the square, were many new citizens that had formed a large circle, and so he look for someone to inquire about the situation. It turned out that there is a young lady of Amendolara in the circle who have ignored all the men who had come up to talk to her, but she is just too beautiful. Therefore, the men were still very persistent in trying to impress her, and so far, no one had succeeded.
Davos was curious, and because dragging it down like this won't resolve it, and will easily lead to conflict, so he called Raphias and they squeezed into the crowd together.
“Hey girl, here comes our leader, Davos. If you still don't like him, then you will have to find a god to be your husband.” Someone in the crowd jokingly said.
When the woman heard this, she raised her head and opened her sleepy eyes.
Davos looked at her, the woman has a snow-white skin, a beautiful face and a pair of big and bright eyes…
Raphias had immediately recognized her and whisphered to Davos, “Her name is Andrea. Her husband followed the army of Thurii to attack Lucania last year, but he died in Laus, leaving her to live alone together with her 3 year old son. She seems to be only 20 years old…”
As Davos was listening, Andrea stepped forward and said, “Are you the archon, Davos?”
“I am.”
“I wish to tell you something.” Andrea said directly.
Davos was taken aback for a bit, “Say it.”
Andrea looked around and pleaded, “I want to talk to you alone, is it alright?”
Davos immediately felt that things might not be easy. He hesitated for a bit, but seeing the urgency in the gaze of Andrea, he nodded and said, “Come with me.”
Seeing that Davos was going to take Andrea away, some of the new citizens were unwilling and said, “Leader Davos, you already have the beautiful Cheiristoya, so don't snatch her from us as well!”
Davos laughed, “Brothers, don't worry. She just wants to have a word with me alone. As you all know, I already have Cheiristoya. If I mess around, she won't allow me to go to bed tonight!”
Davos' dirty joke made them laugh, and they made way for them.
Davos took Andrea to a quiet part of the square, which was then surrounded by the patrols.
“Go ahead and tell me what is the matter?” Davos asked in a soft tone.
Andrea bit her lip and hesitated several times. Finally, she got her courage and asked, “I want to kno…Bagul…he…how is he now?”
“Bagul? Who?” Davos asked uncertainly.
“He…he is a Lucanian…” Andrea's voice was suddenly as quiet as a mosquito, “I was in the temple, when I saw you knock him down and caught him…he…how is he now?”
Seeing Andrea's flushed cheeks, he would have been a fool if he still don't understand what's going on, “You like the Lucanian? Why?”
Davos' calm tone made Andrea panic, “I…I just…”
“I won't blame you, so don't be nervous. Tell me truth and maybe I can help you.” Davos action had immediately soothed her.
“Really?! Can you really help me?” Exclaimed Andrea, as if she had found a straw to clutch at.
Davos made a ‘hush' gesture and said, “First, tell me why you like him.”
Finally, Andrea began to tell her story.
It turned out that Andrea had been praised as “the rose of Amendolara” by the people due to her beauty, and have many pursuers. Later, she was arranged by her father to marry a rich and handsome young nobleman of Amendolara four years ago. Although there was no contact between them before their marriage, Andrea was still satisfied with the marriage. However, after their marriage and having lived together for a long time, she found that her husband was a jealous person, and he doesn't allow her to have contact with any men. Therefore, for this reason, he had executed two of their male slaves, and Andrea, who was only 16 years old and full of life, could only be confined in her home. Her husband also had a much more terrible bad habit, drinking. He often held banquets at their home or attend to the parties of other people, and when he return home, he will be often drunk and abused her. Andrea, who had just become a young woman, couldn't stand it and so she ran back to her parent's house, but her father forced her back and warned her, ‘As a woman, you should treat your husband as if you were a slave serving her master. I hope that you won't come back again, so that our family will not become the object of ridicule.’ Andrea then came back to her new home, and endured what her husband did to her.
Fortunately, she became pregnant soon after. During the birth of their child, her husband stopped abusing her, but he then began to hang out with prostitutes and female slaves. As this is the hobby of the male citizens of Greece, so Andrea could barely accept it, but what she couldn't tolerate was that sometimes her husband will forced her to watch as he had sex with a female slave. As a noble city-state woman, the lowly slave girl who was usually under her control would look at her with strange gaze, and Andrea's dignity as the mistress of the house was trampled on mercilessly. As a result, she began to have a conflict with her husband, and one time, she was even directly knocked out unconscious by her husband. From then on, Andrea was afraid and hated her husband to the extreme, but for the sake of her young child, she could only swallow her tears and bear it silently.
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