Juleios pulled a parchment scroll from his pocket, sneering,
"The people of Thurii have truly short memories! Fortunately, I still have a copy!" He handed the scroll to the senators, who passed it around. The document clearly contained Juleios's promise to grant the slaves freedom, signed by Bourkos as a witness and by the Thurii generals Kunogorata and Neonsis.
At the time, to keep the mercenaries stationed at the Sybaris Plains, the Thurii generals had agreed to almost any conditions.
They assumed the mercenaries wouldn't hold their position for long, and every bit of attrition inflicted on the Lucanians was a gain. The more than 2,000 slaves were viewed as expendable pawns.
They hadn't anticipated that the mercenaries would go on the offensive—and win.
Now that the frugal Neonsis was in power, he was naturally unwilling to grant freedom to the remaining 1,000-plus slaves.
