Chapter 204 The VIPs at the Opening Ceremony

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Ifikrates looked in the direction of his fingers, then a look of sympathy appeared on his face: "He must have arrived in Turii only yesterday, so we didn't see him in the hotel. He is also pitiful to speak of. Yes, his son, who was badly wounded in the Greek war, died last year, and they were Spartans, big-limbed, simple-minded idiots who couldn't stand against the cunning Periacia in that new Spartan government. and the Heros who had the support of Meseria and Arcadia (the Heros of Sparta had partly emigrated to the territory of Tygea, which belonged to Mandinia, and therefore, as Arcadia, Mandinia, the leader of the alliance, has a good relationship), so he is almost 80 years old and continues to insist on attending the New Spartan Council..."

"If it weren't for his constant running around, we would have almost forgotten about the Spartans." Callistratus sighed: "What a respectable old man!"

Agesilaus didn't know that there were two acquaintances talking about him not far away. The reason why he arrived yesterday was because he had been sick before and his health had just improved. He ignored the doctor's dissuasion and came to Tuli. Yi, how could he give up such a good opportunity to meet King Davos to gain some benefits for the Spartans. Also in order to satisfy his long-standing wish, before dying, visit Dionia, who he has been planning to deal with for decades.

It was already dusk when the passenger ship arrived at the port of Turii yesterday. Exhausted, he went ashore and got into the carriage sent to the port by Turii City Hall, which was specially responsible for picking up VIPs. After getting on the carriage, he fell asleep and did not appreciate it. View of the city of Turii.

This morning, when he was led into the Hades main arena by the guide, he was shocked by this huge building despite having seen countless big scenes in his life. He looked up, as if the frog at the bottom of the well could only see the small circular sky above the tall building, but the boiling sound of the gradually filled audience made him feel small.

He has participated in all the four major games in Greece, and he has led troops to intervene in the games several times, but this is the first time he has seen such a grand and imposing venue. He is seriously looking at this special venue. At that time, a voice came from the side: "Agasilaus, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Agasilaus looked back, but it was the current Pioxia military commander, Peropidas, and standing next to him was also an acquaintance that Agasilaus remembered deeply - Ipamironda.

Peropidas smiled, and Ipamironda nodded to him even though his face was calm.

Agsilaus twitched a few times, and said coldly, "I'm very unhappy to see you!" After speaking, he turned around and ignored the two of them.

It is not surprising that Agesilaus has such a reaction, because in the past few years he has been regretting that Sparta should not have launched the Thebes War, otherwise he would not have fallen into such a bad situation today. And it was these two Thebes who led Thebes stubbornly fighting against Sparta for many years and defeated the Spartan army in the battle of Leuctra. How could he give them a good look.

Agasilaus' response made Peropidas slightly embarrassed. He laughed at himself, shrugged at Ipamironda, and said loudly on purpose: "I didn't expect to be in the same league now, and he still doesn't care about the past. Heartbroken."

"Comparing the current situation of Thebes and Spartans, it is strange that he can see it." Ipamironda said softly and understandingly.

Before the Thebes War, Sparta was the overlord of Greece, and many city-states in Central Greece had garrisoned troops, including Thebes. The Thebes government officials went to see the generals of the Spartan garrison, bowing like a slave to a master, and more Not to mention ordinary people.

Who knows that more than 20 years later, the real Spartans have been reduced to the point of dying out, but Thebes, under the strong support of Dionia, not only completely integrated the entire Pioxia region, but also vigorously developed Oropus and its port on the Gulf of Corinth,

Promoted maritime trade with Dionia, which greatly improved the shortcomings of the Pioxia region, making it the second largest power in the Greek League (the first power was the Holy Kingdom of Dionia, Athens was disbanding After the maritime alliance and the loss of those sub-states, both the land area and the number of citizens lag behind the Pioxia Union, but the number of people and the level of commercial development are still higher than that of Pioxia, but because of Thebes and Dionia. The relationship is closer, so most Greek people think that Pioxia is stronger than Athens), which greatly enhances the right to speak in the alliance, and also makes the status of Thebes in mainland Greece rise sharply.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, the status of today's Sparta and Thebes is completely reversed.

"Indeed!" Peropidas laughed heartily.

Agesilaus in the front row felt harsh when he heard the laughter, but he could only pretend he didn't hear it.

"Sit down quickly, don't block the audience behind." Ipamironda reminded, taking a little revenge on Agsilaus for his friend, he felt that it was completely unnecessary. He is a quiet person by nature. Since the establishment of the new Greek alliance and the domination of the Pioxia region by Thebes, he voluntarily resigned from all positions. Ipamironda was designated to attend, and he was probably still living in seclusion at home.

After Peropidas sat down, he looked around with interest, and then said excitedly: "Dionia's invitation letter to us said that they will hold a different sports meeting, and I look at this arena. It is very different, at least the city-states of Greece, including our Thebes, have no ability to build it!"

"Yeah!" Ipamironda also sighed: "Do you remember the time when we were young to watch the games in Corinth, only to see Dionia's players being kicked out? Who would have thought of that at the time? Dionia, humiliated by the audience, became the overlord of Greece after only 20 years, and invited the entire Mediterranean city-states and countries to participate in the games it hosted!"

"What you said reminded me." Peropidas said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "I heard that even after Dionia became the leader of the Greek League, Dionia participated in various sports in the past few years. Athletes of different races will still be discriminated against by the Greek people, so King Dioria held this Games in a fit of rage, allowing all races in the Mediterranean to participate. !"

"Do the Greek city-states you mentioned also include our Thebes and Pioxia alliance?" Ipamironda asked indifferently.

But Peropidas didn't respond, pointed to the side not far, and said gloatingly: "Look, General Clionian of Corinth is there! I wonder what kind of mood he will be sitting in this arena. , are you worried that the Dionysian Games will surpass the Corinthian Games and become the most popular games for the Greek people?!"

"It's not just Collins who is worried, I think Alice and Delphi are also worried, look, aren't their messengers sitting there!" A voice came from beside them.

Ipamironda immediately stood up: "Lucomedes, good morning!"

"Good morning, Peropidas, Ipamironda! It's a pleasure to sit with you!" Lucomedes raised the ticket in his hand and pointed to the number on the stone bench, quite sighing said: "When I came to Turii, what amazes me most is not the hugeness and prosperity of this city, but that there are so many people here, but they can be managed in such an orderly manner! Now it seems that this I am afraid it is because the officials of Dionia are very serious and meticulous about the governance of the country~

Think about it, even the entrances in the arena (each entrance has a number, corresponding to the number written on the ticket), the stone stairs (there are wooden bars on the side of the stone stairs to prevent falling), and the seats are all carefully designed, so that there are so many spectators enter the arena without confusion. It can be seen that they have penetrated this meticulous management into all aspects of people's lives..."

"Yeah, think about when there was no conflict in the previous games because of the audience vying for seats. Those of us who are the mother country should not only be ashamed, but also humbly learn from Dionysian!" Peroppi Das said seriously, and then politely made an inviting gesture: "Lucomedes, please take a seat!"

After the Greek War, it was not Thebes that benefited the most among the native Greek city-states, but Mandinia. They not only obtained the fertile land of the original Tygea, but also established the The Arcadia alliance with Mandinia as the main body became a major force in the Greek mainland.

Peropidas once privately envied Ipamironda and said, "We Thebes fought hard with Sparta for many years and sacrificed so many people in order to establish the Pioxia Alliance... and Mandini Just because he was lucky enough to follow Dionia in the Greek War, he finally achieved this goal easily, Apollo is really partial!"

However, Peropidas, who was lively and cheerful on the outside, but proud on the inside, showed his sincere respect to Lycomedes, because he not only proposed the "establishment of the Arcadia Union" for the first time, but also worked tirelessly on it for many years. Running away, he also served as the president of the Arcadia Alliance for 5 consecutive years (the highest position in the Arcadia Alliance Parliament, only Mandinians can hold it).

"I heard from you just now that Dionysus is going to hold a different kind of games..."