Chapter 2 The Holy Alliance and the Oracle

Silcitas sighed: "The last time the messenger of Agesilaus came here to ask for the oracle, he also made a request to me, 'I hope that when the hostile city-states of Sparta come here to ask for the oracle when we were able to whisper to the Spartans what they were asking for..."

"It's more than that." Patmos, who was in charge of the sacred library, said angrily: "After Polybiadas left the temple, he went to my place to go around, he said, intentionally or unintentionally, ' This time, their expedition to Northern Greece consumed a lot of materials, and they also owed the wages of more than a thousand mercenaries in the team'..."

"The Spartans are so arrogant!" Kabatas, the priest in charge of the Pythian Games, shouted angrily: "We must teach them a lesson to dispel their ambitions for Delphi!"

"Lessons for Sparta? It is now the overlord of Greece, with the support of the Persians behind it. If it is provoked, it will be even more detrimental to our Delphi..." Patmos said with some worry.

At this time, the chief priest Sitarsis said what he had thought for a long time: "Who said we are going to confront Sparta head-on! We can invite a powerful force to join the Holy Alliance to balance Sparta in the alliance. absolute advantage.”

The priests' eyes lit up.

Patmos thought for a while and said, "Who would be better to invite? Macedonia?"

"Macedonia!" Kabatas snorted: "The Spartans' expedition to Northern Greece was to help Macedonia. The Macedonians are grateful that Sparta is too late, how can they fight against it! What's more, although the territory of Macedonia is vast, it has Without enough strength, even barbarians can't defeat, how can they be able to fight against the powerful Sparta!"

At this time, another priest, Cretimene, gave an "oh" and said hesitantly, "I am afraid that the only Greek force that can fight against Sparta is Dionia... Do we want to invite it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kabatas protested loudly: "No! No! Dionia is a savage kingdom, not a Greek force at all!"

"How can the kingdom of Dionysian be a barbarian country? At the All-Greek Scholars Conference held there last year and this year, many scholars went to Turii, and they all praised the academic atmosphere there. What's more, Dionysus Turii, Tarantum, Lokli, Cilitin, Crotone, Lijim, Catanai under the sub-Kingdom... These cities were famous Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean more than ten years ago. Delphi Sanctuary contributed a lot of gold and silver..." Cretimene defended.

"The Holy Alliance has never invited any Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean to join the tradition, because they are all colonies." Kabatas still objected.

Cretimene sighed: "Everyone,

It is not a few decades ago. Everything depends on the strength of the city-state. The tradition has been broken one by one. The covenant of the Holy Alliance also said, 'It is not allowed to destroy any city-state in the alliance. ’ But do you think there are few examples of Sparta destroying Mandinia and Platia! And Dionia is the most powerful Greek country in the Western Mediterranean, and probably the most powerful force in the entire Greek world. Even the Spartans have taken the initiative to negotiate a covenant in Turii many times, and only invited Dionia. Joining the alliance will make the domineering Sparta fear and restrain his behavior. "

Cretimene's words made everyone ponder.

Patmos said embarrassedly: "Even if we intend to invite Dioria to join the Holy Alliance, will Dionia agree? You must know that over the years, we, like Olympia, have been as resolutely opposed to Dionia's participation in the competition, and because It never consecrated gold and silver to the Sanctuary of Delphi, but secretly preached the barbarism of Dionia, hoping that the freedmen of Greece would not emigrate to Dionia..."

The priests all looked unnatural, and they had all done these things.

Kabatas complained: "Dionia highly respects Hades, so that fewer and fewer people of Dionia come to Delphi to seek oracles... If this continues, I am afraid that the Greeks in the entire Western Mediterranean will be See Delphi as nothing."

His words resonated with the priests, and everyone began to complain.

At this time, the priest Silcitas said: "It seems that you have all confirmed that the Greek country you want to invite is Dionia. As for the issue of the Temple of Hades, I don't think you need to worry. Although the Temple of Hades in Onia is very important in the hearts of the people of Dionia, the Temple of Hades does not seem to be very important in divination and issuing oracles, which is exactly what we at Delphi are good at. The realm, and the only realm!" Sircitas emphasized and emphasized.

He knew very well in his heart that the reason why Hades was able to develop so rapidly in Dionia must be the impetus of the powerful king who claimed to be the "descendant of Hades", and Delphi should not be so stupid as to scratch the tiger's whiskers : "Delphi and the Temple of Hades do not conflict with each other. I think the centuries-old oracle tradition of Delphi will make the people of Dionia who are in difficulty hope to get the guidance of Apollo. And we can also guide Greek freemen, who were struggling, went to the Italian peninsula in search of a new life..."

"Even if Dionia is willing to join the Holy Alliance, I am afraid that Sparta will not agree to join him. After all, we only have the right to make suggestions, not to decide!" Patmos reminded.

Sircitas sighed: "This is what worries me the most. I heard that in the covenant signed by Dionia and Sparta, there is a treaty about 'Dionia shall not be involved in Eastern Mediterranean affairs' .Although this shows that Sparta is afraid of Dionia, it also proves that the Spartans are full of vigilance against Dionia, and Sparta will definitely oppose Dionia joining the Holy Alliance."

"But the Holy Alliance doesn't have the right to interfere in the affairs of other city-states. It's just an organization to protect Delphi. I don't think Sparta will react so violently." Cretimene reassured.

At this time, Silcitas came up with an idea that he had already thought of: "My suggestion is... can we send someone to Turii quietly to discuss with King Dionia, and let them take the initiative to make a request to the Holy Alliance. , and we privately contact Athens, Corinth, Argos, Megara and other city-states that have gaps with Sparta, so we can put pressure on both sides, and I believe that Sparta must also consider carefully..."

After listening to all the priests, they all felt that this idea was a good idea, and no one objected, 'What if Dionysus does not want to join the Holy Alliance? ’, because it seemed to them that Dionysus was ecstatic to be invited to Delphi, the holy place of the Greeks.

Patmos looked at Pitia, who had been closing his eyes, and asked respectfully, "What does Apollo's oracle say about this time?"

For something as important as this, the oracle of Apollo must have been consulted in advance. If there is absolutely no hope of success, it is impossible to raise it at a priestly meeting.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Pitia. The old woman in maiden attire (this kind of dress was required by the Temple of Apollo, she was a symbol of chastity) opened her cloudy eyes, and in her hoarse and low voice chanted: "O hot sun,

is draining its brilliance,

falling under the mountains,

The dark night has come,

Clusters of roaring bonfires,

shine it like day,

 …”

Just as the priests pondered the profound meaning of this oracle, Silcitas interjected: "Since Dionysus made Hades the protector of the kingdom, and this god was the lord of darkness, I think Apollo The oracle is saying, 'The sun represented by Sparta is about to go down, and Dionia will take its place. As for those bonfires, I haven't figured it out yet, perhaps referring to another emerging power...'"

Oracles are always obscure, like the gods themselves. Although it was difficult for the priests to understand for a while, it did not affect their execution of this matter, because it seemed that at least the general direction was right...

…………………………

Last year's sweltering summer heat killed a Spartan king, Agesiporis. This summer has been a huge test for Dionia.

At the Dionysian Palace, King Davos, Minister of Commerce Marigi, Minister of Finance Mersis, and the five rotating chairmen of the Senate were all listening solemnly to the report of Burgos, Minister of Agriculture.

"Actually last year, the rain in spring and summer was less than before. But this year, from February to July, there has been no rain in southern Italy for more than five months," said Lucani. Asia, Apulia (this region includes Messapi, Pucherti and Downey), Greater Greece, Bruti are all facing severe water shortages, such as the Cisno and Saraceno rivers These small rivers have basically exposed their riverbeds and turned into small streams. Large rivers such as the Krati River, the Lamato River, and the Neto River have also narrowed their rivers and their water levels have dropped...

If it wasn't for the widespread application of waterwheels, large areas of wheat seedlings might have died on the Sybari Plain, Croton Plain, Euphemia Plain, and Cosenza Plateau. During the autumn harvest in September, the entire southern Italian region will suffer severe harvest failures. From the current situation, the possibility of such a bad situation happening is very high! …”

"It's not just the crop failure. The dry weather has lasted for so long, and the pastures in the mountains have also died, and a lot of livestock fed by the herdsmen have died!" Vespa lamented.

"I remember that the last time there was a drought in southern Italy was 25 years ago. The weather has been good for the past few years, and the kingdom and the people have benefited a lot. I'm afraid many people did not take any precautions against this!" Lycias said solemnly.