Chapter 43 Libraries
Isocrates anxiously waited for the final decision of the Dionysian Senate in a spacious lounge in the council hall.
Soon the guards came in and invited him to the venue.
When he walked into the venue, he found Dionysian Archon Davos standing in the center of the venue.
Davos smiled at him and motioned for him to sit down. After Davos smiled and said to him: "Honorable messenger of Athens, I'm glad you brought the friendship of the great Mediterranean city-state Athens to the Dionysian League, It makes us in the remote corner of the Greek world stop continuing to mourn ourselves, because in the new play "The Dionias" by the Athenian playwright Aristophanes, we Dionias are treated as savages. The Athenian people entertained..."
As soon as this statement came out, Isocrates secretly screamed: "It's broken."
Sure enough, he heard someone shouting from behind: "What right do Athenians have to humiliate us Lucanians!"
"They're not just humiliating the Lucanians, they're humiliating all the Dionian citizens!" another shouted angrily.
"If Athenians treat us with this attitude, then Athenians are not welcome here!"
...
One after another, angry voices slammed towards Isocrates who was sitting in front, making him feel as if a volcano was about to erupt behind him, and his face changed a little.
Davos looked at his embarrassment and continued: "Isocrates, you said that Athens and Dionysus have a deep friendship. This can't just be said in words, it needs to look at actual actions. As far as we know, Athens now. The actual situation makes us not see the friendship of the Athenians towards Dionia, but the people of Athens are ruthlessly mocking and sarcastic about some of the characteristics of a new alliance of city-states that are different from other Greek city-states, and can even be able to. To be the go-to drink in Athens' restaurants for months on end is not what a city-state with a long history and tradition that once claimed to be 'the best school in all of Greece'! What a city-state that is affectionate and wants to form an alliance with!
Therefore, the citizens of Dionia would not trust their backs to a city-state that discriminates against them in the face of a powerful enemy. So I think it's too early to talk about the conclusion of a military alliance. "
Damn Aristophanes! Damn Aristophanes! Even the countless curses of Isocrates in his heart could not change the reality of the failure of the alliance. Depressed, he wanted to stand up and try to make a final effort.
Davos in front waved to him, motioning him not to intervene, and then said: "Although the current Turiyi is no longer the previous Turiyi, and the Dionysian Alliance has no connection with Athens, but Dionysian Humans are by no means an ungrateful race, we have clear grievances and grievances, we repay tenfold the enmity given to us by others, and repay tenfold the kindness given by others—"
"Lord Archon is right! Tarantom used to ally with us when we were in trouble, so we sent an army to save their city-state! Turii gave your mercenary a foothold in the very beginning. So in the face of the pressure of Crotone's army, we did not give in, but avenged the dead Tuli with a great victory! Dionia regards commitment as life and cherishes the friendship that has been paid, so friendship cannot be taken lightly Yes!" The old man, Scombras, shook his gray beard, held his head high, glanced at Isocrates sideways, and put on a proud look of "Dionysian friendship is extremely precious, it's really cheap for you" .
Davos smiled and continued: "Since the center of the Dionysian Alliance is in Turii, we naturally inherit some of the feelings of the former Turii people, and we are willing to have friendly exchanges with Athens and strengthen exchanges. To clear up misunderstandings..."
When Isocrates heard this, he understood the meaning of Davos and the other senators in the Senate: In addition to the military alliance, Dionysus was willing to get along with Athens. Strengthening trade and cultural exchanges does not seem to be much different from the core meaning of his previous speeches.
But Isocrates understands that the difference is obvious. If Isocrates initially talked about cooperation as a big brother in Athens, but now the Dionysians are stepping on the elegance and nobility in his bones. At his feet, he instead told him: Dionia's friendship is extremely precious, you can give a little to Athens, but it depends on Athens' performance...
Being able to sit in the position of the consul and single-handedly created today's Dionia, this young man is not easy! Isocrates looked at Davos in front and felt the pressure...
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While Isocrates was giving a speech at the Dionysian Senate, Ancitanos took Lysias to the north side of the Victory Square, where there was a newly built building that looked like a temple with steps. Below are the bronze statues of the nine muses, lined up.
"Could it be the Temple of Apollo?" Lysias looked at Ancitanos suspiciously.
Ancitanos still had a mysterious smile on his face, but he didn't speak.
With more and more curiosity, Lysias walked up the steps, and finally found several huge letters "Library" on the lintel at the entrance of the temple.
"This is?" Lycias can roughly guess the function of this building, but such a large building is only used for books? Are there so many books?
He looked at Ancitanos again suspiciously, hoping he could explain.
"This is the library built by our consul, Lord Davos!" Ancitanos pointed to the words proudly and said, "He once said, 'Books are the gems of human wisdom, whether it is Persia, Egypt, Carthage, or earlier Sumer, Hittite, Assyria... The history and civilization they created are ultimately gathered in words and books. It is the common wealth of our human beings, and it is our escape from ignorance. , the ladder to a more splendid civilization, so we must make every effort to collect them! Protect them! If these treasures are destroyed by wars and disasters, it will be the most tragic loss for us human beings! But we not only need to collect books, I also want to share and read these books with more people, so that the people of Dionia can use knowledge to improve themselves, use knowledge to create wealth, and use knowledge to create a more brilliant culture. This is what I want to build a library for. Meaning!'"
After listening to Lycias, he was fascinated and murmured, "A person who can speak such a great language must be a great person!"
Ancitanos smiled secretly.
"Take me in and take a look!" Lycias couldn't wait to go in, but was stopped by the guard at the door.
"This is my friend. He came with me. He wants to go in and visit." Ancitanos hurriedly stepped forward to explain.
"Okay, Lord Ancitanos." The guard saluted respectfully.
"The place where knowledge is stored actually has force!" Lycias said angrily as he walked in.
"Books are precious and fragile. A fire can destroy them all. Of course, someone needs to guard them to prevent accidents." Ancitanos explained.
Lycias expressed his understanding, and after calming down, he said, "It seems that not everyone can enter here."
"Only Dionian citizens and prospective citizens can enter."
"In this way, the free people of Dionia have one more motivation to become citizens." Lycias stayed here for nearly two days, and he can be considered to know the relationship between the citizens of Dionia, the prospective citizens, and the free people. How big is the gap between the rights enjoyed by the people, but this gap is not insurmountable, unlike Athens, no matter how hard you try, you can't bridge the gap between the Athenians and the Gentiles.
"There are probably 40,000 or 50,000 citizens of Dionia in Turii. If they all fit into this library, can it be accommodated?" Lycias asked suspiciously.
"Your concerns have been taken into account. First, the quality of Dionysian citizens has not reached the level that everyone can read; second, they can't be here at the same time, even if the citizens are going to enter the library. There are too many, and the library also has a limit on the number of people, but it seems that it will take many years for such a situation to appear. By then, maybe Dionia will have a second, third, and fourth A library..." Ancitanos's words were filled with confidence in his alliance.
Lycias was silent, but soon he was attracted by the sight in front of him: rows of tall wooden cabinets were neatly placed in the museum, cutting the huge space into a corridor for three or four people to pass side by side. Each wooden cabinet is open, divided into small rectangular spaces by strips of wood, inside which are placed rolls of books or materials assembled from papyrus or parchment. In front of these bookcases, there is an area with many wooden tables, and only a few people sit there reading quietly.
Lycias, who was addicted to books, saw his eyes go straight, and couldn't help but say, "There are so many books!"
"In fact, there are not many. Most of the bookcases in the back are empty. After all, the library has only been completed in less than 20 days." Ancitanos said with some emotion: "Master Davos once called on the citizens of Dionia to take out I asked the library to transcribe a copy of my own collection of books, store it here, and inscribe the names of the citizens who donated the books. At that time, there were so many citizens who responded to the call that the library copyists were too busy... …”
Looking in the direction of Ancitanos' finger, Lycias saw several stone tablets erected on the left side of the entrance to the library. Before, he only looked ahead and ignored it.
The stone tablets are densely engraved with names.
Lycias noticed that only the first name had the title written behind it: "This...this...this is-" He stroked the title in disbelief.