Pyrrhus did not do anything against the will of the Tarentines and did not impose anything on them until the surviving ships arrived and he assembled most of his forces. After that he put restrictions on the inhabitants because they were only interested in a leisurely lifestyle and would have let him do all the fighting. He closed all the gymnasia, banned festivals, banquets, revelry and drinking. He closed the theatre in case the people gathered there for a revolt. He feared that the people, feeling oppressed, might defect to the Romans. Therefore, he sent Tarentine men who could be able politicians to Epirus and assassinated some of them. He ordered that the citizens undergo severe military exercise or face a penalty and put the men of military age into military service alongside his soldiers, dividing them into two companies. Zonaras also wrote that Pyrrhus placed guards in people's houses so that they would not leave the city. The Tarentines felt that they found in Pyrrhus a master instead of an ally. Some people complained and left the ranks. Plutarch wrote: "Many therefore left the city, since they were not accustomed to being under orders, and called it servitude not to live as they pleased." Appian wrote that the penalty for not undergoing severe military exercises was death; the "king's officers [ ] quartered themselves upon the citizens by force, and openly abused their wives and children... people ... fled the city as though it were a foreign government and took refuge in the fields, ... [and Pyrrhus ... closed the gates and placed guards over them."