Chapter 203 Hades Main Arena

"I think you hope to be favored by a certain Dionysian princess and become the son-in-law of King Dionia." His teammates snorted dissatisfiedly.

Not only did Siriteios not refute, but he whispered seriously: "Unfortunately, according to what I have heard, several princesses of the Dionysian royal family have already married, and there is no chance! The minister's daughter is also very good! I say that you should also work hard to stay in the Kingdom of Dionia!"

Although women were banned from watching the games in the previous Greek Games, the anecdote of choosing a husband through the Games still happened occasionally, and it was passed down as a legend. For example: Peisistratus, the former tyrant of Athens, once let his daughter disguise herself into the sports venue to choose an ideal husband. And Siriteos was handsome, tall and well-proportioned, and was indeed likely to be favored by Dionian women.

The people next to him were also a little moved, and fell into a fantasy for a while.

"It looks like you're going to perform well in tomorrow's game." McGar Kidds put the dinner plate on the dining table and sat opposite Siriteios.

"Performing well is for sure, but I'm not sure if I can make the cut." Siriteos said dejectedly, but his expression was calm: "I've observed it in the training room these days, the traditional race is strong. The runners sent by Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Alice are all very strong this time. Fortunately, this time Dionia completely changed the way of racing. Everyone is not very comfortable with it. I still have a chance.

And even if I was eliminated in the 100-meter race, I still have meters in the race, and the more appearances I have on the field, the more chance I will be seen by the Dionysians. "

McGalkids was a little dissatisfied with Siritaios's attitude to the game that he didn't try his best to win, but focused on how to win the heart of the Dionysian woman, but Siritaios was a noble after all, and he didn't dare to accuse him. , I had to bury my head in eating.

"I heard from the management of the stadium that Dionia will hold a grand ceremony tomorrow, which is completely different from the opening of the previous games. I really want to see it earlier!" Si Yi Leng: Yes, what kind of surprise will Dionia bring to all athletes and city-state representatives at tomorrow's ceremony? !

McGawkids is also full of longing.

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Hades Main Arena is the first arena since the establishment of Dionia. It is located in the east-central part of the inner city of Turin. It has undergone several large-scale renovations and expansions, the most recent one taking place in the two years after King Davers announced the Games, and now its architectural structure and appearance are decades ago. It was very different when it was first built.

The entire venue is almost a huge circle, with a height of about 42 meters, covering an area of ​​more than square meters, and can usually accommodate nearly 60,000 spectators. It is not only a sanctuary for players and fans of the game, but also one of the architectural wonders of the Turii region.

In the early hours of July 2, 365 BC (the 29th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), a bustling crowd gathered from all directions to the main arena of Hades. At the same time, the 69 entrances of Hades' main arena were opened at the same time, and only one entrance was temporarily closed, which was the passage for members of the royal family to enter and exit.

The ticket inspectors and the patrol team were in their respective positions, and even the Turiyi City Hall applied to the Ministry of Military Affairs and transferred four reserve battalions from the Turiyi Barracks in advance to help maintain order outside the arena.

Under the guidance of volunteers and guides, tens of thousands of spectators turned into a trickle, leading to each entrance. Many spectators from all over Greece handed their tickets to the ticket inspectors with some trepidation. Because of the various games held in Greece in the past, they never had to pay to watch the games,

This is the first time they have purchased tickets, and they feel both novel and nervous: Does such a strange piece of paper work?

But for Dionysian spectators, buying tickets to watch the game is a natural thing, they have been doing it for decades, and every year Turii and other parts of the kingdom rely on the ticket money alone to bring the city hall to the city hall. There is little income, and the tickets for this games are made of a kind of thick paper with delicate and bluish texture newly developed by the Cristoia Chamber of Commerce. It is almost impossible for anyone to forge them. The location, date, seat number, and dozens of scribes in the Chamber of Commerce spent nearly a month.

The ticket inspector mainly checks the authenticity of the ticket and whether the information on the ticket has been altered. After everything is confirmed, he will invite the audience to enter with a smile.

After passing through the entrance, the audience must reach the floor specified on the ticket, and then hand the ticket to the ticket inspector at the entrance of the floor to enter the auditorium (There are 4 floors in the Hades Main Arena, each floor The prices are different. The first floor is mainly for the elders, ministers, VIPs of the kingdom, and citizens and heroes who have made outstanding contributions to the kingdom. The fourth floor has no seats and is a standing ticket, and the price is the cheapest).

"It is so troublesome to enter the auditorium of the arena!" Ifikrates found his seat according to the seat number on the number plate, and began to complain as soon as he sat down: "I think we Athenians are already calculating enough. I didn't expect the Dionysians to be more stingy than us and to pay to watch the games, which is unheard of!"

Callistratus, who sat next to him, said a few fair words for Dionia: "It is understandable that they have provided free accommodation and abundant Food, it costs a lot of money, so it’s understandable to earn some money by collecting tickets. I asked the conductor when I entered the venue just now, the price of the tickets is not high, the cheapest is only three drachmas, The most expensive is 10 drachmas (the tickets for each messenger group are donated by the Turii City Hall, no need to pay), even the poor should be able to afford it.”

"Cheap is cheap, but look at how many people can sit here! After this game, Dionia can get at least hundreds of thousands or even millions of drachmas, and how many games will they play in the entire Olympic Games... Dionia can make a huge fortune by holding a sports meeting!" Ifikrates stretched his fingers, estimating the income of Dionia's sports meeting.

"What, are you tempted?" Callistratus said jokingly: "Would you like to make suggestions at the council, learn from Dionysus, and start charging for the Panathenaic Games in the future?"

Ifikrates really thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said: "I'm afraid this will not work, let alone the tradition of no fees for the Panathenaic Games, and the public cannot accept it. Not to mention that our arena is open. It is very difficult to restrict people from going in and out at will.”

"To build such a huge and complex arena in Athens, the funds and manpower alone are already unbearable for us, not to mention the construction technology required for it is probably not available to us now."

Callistratus glanced at the entire venue with cautious eyes, and finally said with a sigh: "Even if we build such an arena, the number of spectators it can accommodate far exceeds the number of citizens of Athens ( The number of citizens of the city of Athens is generally kept in people), I am afraid it will take a long time to make a profit, so ah, such a huge building, such a charging method... Only like Dionia has strong national strength and huge Only a country with a large population can implement it!"

Ifikrates was silent, he had been dissatisfied with Dionia before. As the adopted son of the former Macedonian king Amyntas, he wanted to lead troops to the rescue in the Macedonian rebellion four years ago, but was dissuaded by the executive committee of the General Athens, and had to ask Dionia, the leader of the Greek alliance, for help. As a result, when Dionia sent troops, his righteous brother Alexander had died in battle, and Dionia did not allow Macedonia to join the Greek alliance after the rebellion was settled, but instead formed an alliance with Macedonia alone... Ifikrates believes that Dio Nias are selfish.

Neither he nor Callistrapes had ever been to Turii. This time, as a member of the Athenian envoys, he had truly seen the power and prosperity of Dionia, far beyond what Athens could compare to. Some other thoughts in my heart were basically dispelled. At this moment, he was still a little dissatisfied and said: "The key depends on whether Dionysius can run the Games well, otherwise it will be useless no matter how well the arena is built!"

Callistratus knew a little bit about the psychology of his colleague. For a period of time after the end of the Greek War, he was also unwilling, but as Dionia's hegemony in mainland Greece became more and more stable , more and more Ionian city-states (the islands in the Aegean Sea) joined the Greek alliance, and Athens’ expansion from the sea has been blocked. Because of its alliance with Dionia, Athens’ trade channels have become Great expansion, the domestic market is more prosperous, the commercial tax has increased significantly, the treasury is also rich, and the citizens enjoy this peace and comfort more. thought.

He didn't continue talking about this topic, but pointed to the side and said in surprise, "Look, Agsilaus is here too! I thought he wouldn't come to participate in this sports meeting."