Watching Phibidas reluctantly board the ship and leave Tarantum's port, Daiomilas immediately changed his expression and spoke earnestly to Yumacas:
"The Spartans have a saying that is absolutely correct — if Tarantum doesn't pull itself together soon, even a brand-new city-state like Dionia, without any historical traditions, will look down on us!"
"Do we really have to go to war with the Messapians?!" Yumacas hesitated.
"Aren't the Messapians already waging war on us?!" Daiomilas retorted. With pain in his voice, he said:
"It's precisely because we have been tolerating them again and again that the Messapians think Tarantum is weak, becoming more and more aggressive in harassing us, while the other Greater Greek city-states grow increasingly dismissive of Tarantum's existence! We must strike back and resolve the Messapian problem once and for all!"
"Resolve it once and for all?! That's not what you said to me last time!" Yumacas frowned.
