Chapter 208 Entrance Ceremony (2)
"Okay, the two of you, please suspend the discussion." Davos said solemnly: "I assure you that Dionia will do her best to resolve the conflict in the Argos Plain. Individuals or city-states who disrupt the peaceful settlement process must be severely punished!"
Davers paused and continued: "Now is not the time to discuss political affairs, let's continue to watch the opening ceremony of the Games, and lo and behold, the third athlete delegation has entered the stadium!"
Plato and Xenophon looked at each other calmly, without speaking, they both turned their attention to the field.
Although they were both students of Socrates and citizens of Athens, both of them had written articles about Socrates, remembered and promoted some of Socrates' ideological concepts, and the relationship between the two of them during their studies in Athens remained unchanged. Yes, but with the difference in their experiences, the ideas and pursuits they have formed are quite different. In addition, they have not seen each other for decades, and now the two sides have become quite alienated.
At this moment, Davos regretted a little in his heart: it seemed that they should not be invited at the same time.
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The wooden sign held high by the third team of athletes who entered the stadium clearly read "The Holy Kingdom of Dionia - Africa", which may be confusing to some spectators from northern Italy who rarely go out: When did the kingdom get another region?
In fact, this area was established only last year.
There are many Phoenician city-states along the coast of Africa. They were all transit stations established by the East Phoenicians when they developed the commercial resources of the Western Mediterranean. Their original intention was not to colonize. Until the rise of Carthage, these The transfer station was gradually developed into a town, but due to its single economic base, it was extremely dependent on the support of Carthage. But after Dionysus defeated Carthage and took away several important commercial and trade resources from Carthage, most of the Phoenician city-states in Africa had to turn to Dionysus, who was more powerful and had a wider market. Sub-Holy Kingdom.
Over time, Phoenicia's trade ties with Dionia became stronger, and with the prosperity of the former Phoenician city-state of Hadrummentum, which was already a town of Dionia, as an example, there began to be scattered The Phoenician city-state asked to join the Dionysian Holy Kingdom. After the end of the Greek War, Dionia's strength became even more prosperous, and people with discernment even thought that Dionia's domination of the entire Mediterranean was no longer a big problem. Under such circumstances, in addition to Phoenicia, Utica, etc. Several large city-states were still reluctantly insisting, and other Phoenician city-states on the African continent demanded to join Dionia one after another. Therefore, under the instruction of Davos, the Dionysian Holy Kingdom has another area - Africa, temporarily centered on Hadrummentum.
More than half of the athletes in the African delegation that appeared in the arena were Phoenicians. They have been known for the Greek Games for a long time, but this is the first time to participate, so they are very new and excited, and they are very active on the track. .
Sophie Okritten of Carthage attended the opening ceremony this time. Sitting in the VIP seat, he saw this scene on the field, and his mood was extremely complicated: Since Carthage became a subsidiary of Dionia After that, its commerce not only did not decline, but became more prosperous. After all, Dionia provided it with a wider market, but Carthage's agriculture was shrinking sharply. One of the important reasons is that Carthage lost the inland lands of Numibia it had previously occupied, and Dionia could provide it with sufficient and reasonably priced food, which made most of the Carthaginian people invest in it. In commercial activities, it was impossible for Carthage to survive independently of Dionia. Influenced by nearby towns, there have also been people in Carthage calling for "to be fully incorporated into the Dionysian Kingdom like other Phoenician city-states" in recent years. The Senate and the Hundred Courts headed by him have already reached a tacit agreement ,
No response to this. But this kind of pressure has always existed, and he didn't know how long Carthage's independence could last...
The fourth entry is the Dionysian Holy Kingdom - a delegation of athletes from the Po River region.
After Dionia conquered Gaul in the mountains, she divided the whole area occupied by Gaul in the mountains into the Po River area. It can be said that this is the most fertile and broadest plain in the Holy Kingdom of Dionia, but it is also the most fertile. One of the most difficult areas to stabilize. Dionia spent nearly 10 years and exhausted various methods to gradually allow the Gauls to accept Dionia's rule. Among them, Kapus, the administrator of the Po River region, played a major role.
Since the Dionysian army conquered Gaul in the Mountains, Capus was transferred to the Po River region by King Davos and has served for nearly 10 years. Sitting on the VIP seat, he fixed his eyes on the delegation from the Po River region, his eyes were full of relief.
Since Dionysus only began to immigrate to the Po River region in recent years, the proportion of Greeks in the region is still very small, so the majority of the delegation are Gauls, who are tall, with messy hair and some faces. They are painted with oil paint, and some are still topless... Facing the audience, they roar from time to time and show their muscles.
In the eyes of some Greek dignitaries, it was a savage performance, but in the eyes of the Dionysian audience, who were used to the intense rugby game, it was a performance of personality, so the cheers were even more enthusiastic.
Athletes from the Po region mainly compete in horse racing and racing, and the next delegation will likely be their competitors, because the athletes come from Bruti, a famous livestock area in the Kingdom of Dionia.
The Bruti delegation was followed by the Campania Union delegation. In the current Campania alliance, only Naples and its neighboring sub-state towns are left. Other city-states in the original alliance have joined the Kingdom of Dionia one after another. The current situation of Naples is somewhat similar to that of Carthage. resemblance.
The next delegation to enter is the Holy Kingdom of Dionia - the eastern plains of Campania. This delegation, which is composed of Greeks, Etruscans, and Samones, is the strongest. The championship project is the javelin, of course, they also had to compete with the Samone delegation.
Next in line was the Corinthian delegation. But when it appeared on the field, most of the audience were stunned, because there were only two players behind the boy holding the placard. The difference is too vast. Although Corinth is only a city-state compared with the previous regions and leagues, it is the venue for the Corinth Games. Domestic citizens advocate sports and have strong strength in traditional competitions. Therefore, Dionia is inviting Corinth. The letter gave a lot of entries.
"It seems that the Corinthians are still very opinionated about Dionia holding the Games. I think if it wasn't for your strong national strength and the fact that you are the leader of the Greek League, the Corinthians probably wouldn't even send a player." Xenophon commented with some schadenfreude.
Davos smiled and said confidently: "If the Corinthians don't participate, will it have any impact on the game, but it is the biggest loss for Corinthians and Corinthians! Because the Dionysian Games will surely become the largest in the Mediterranean. The celebration will also become a big theater for various city-states, regions and athletes to show themselves to various countries in the Mediterranean! Are you right?"
Xenophon and Plato looked around at thousands of spectators from all places and races, as well as the athletes from all places and races in the stadium, and they all fell into deep thought.
The polite Dionysian audience cheered the two Collins athletes, but there was a lot of laughter among the cheers.
The Corinthian general, Clionian, who was sitting in the VIP seat, was so ashamed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to get in. Collins not only sent two athletes perfunctorily, but also deliberately arrived late. As a result, after they learned that other city-states had sent many athletes, it was too late to inform Collins to make changes again.
At this time, the Corinthian general still clearly remembered that the Corinthian parliamentarian originally stationed in the Greek Union Parliament of Turii, after hearing the news, scolded the Corinthian council in front of him as short-sighted idiots, which would surely lead to Corinthians The efforts made in the past few years have been in vain.
What efforts did Collins make?
After the Greek War, the Corinthians saw Dionia support Thebes for the unification of Piosia, Mandinia for the Arcadia Confederation, Elis for the northwestern Peloponnese, and Argos for the Peloponnes The northeastern corner of the Loponnese, so it also asked Dionysus to "unify the Isthmus of Corinth".
Davers reluctantly agreed, but demanded that Thebes must negotiate with Megara.
There are only two city-states in the entire isthmus, Corinth in the south and Megara in the north-central. Although Megara is less powerful than Corinth, it is also a city-state with a long history and a good reputation in mainland Greece. Of course, it does not want to be unified by Corinth.
Since both city-states surrendered to Dionia in time during the Corinthian War, Dionia did not favor anyone, and this matter was put on hold.
But Collins still did not give up. The Corinthians who were good at doing business were indeed more flexible than the Argos. When Megara firmly opposed being unified by Corinth, the Corinthians quickly changed their plans and proposed "to form an equal relationship with the Megara people. Isthmus League".
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