ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1253 Hades Main Arena

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

Not only did Silitaos not refute, but he whispered seriously: "Unfortunately, according to the news I heard, several princesses of the Dionia royal family have already married, and there is no chance! But if someone from Dionia can be The minister’s daughter is also a good choice! I say you should also work hard to stay in the Kingdom of Dionia! "

Although women were prohibited from attending the Greek Games in the past, anecdotes about selecting husbands through the games still happened occasionally and became popular.For example: Peisistratus, the former tyrant of Athens, once asked his daughter to dress up and enter sports venues to choose an ideal husband.Silitaos is handsome, tall and well-proportioned, and is indeed likely to be favored by Dionian women.

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

"It seems that you are ready to perform well in tomorrow's game." Megakides placed the dinner plate on the dining table and sat down opposite Silitaos.

"It's certain to perform well, but I'm not sure whether I can advance." Silitaos said dejectedly, but his expression was very calm: "I have carefully observed in the training room these days. The traditional racing powerhouse The players sent by Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Ellis this time are all very strong. Fortunately, Dionia has completely changed the way of racing this time. Everyone is not used to it, and I still have a chance.

And even if I am eliminated in the 100-meter race, I still have the 200-meter and 400-meter races. If I show up a few more times, I will have a greater chance of being favored by the ladies of Dionia. "

Megakides was a little dissatisfied with Siliteos's attitude towards the game, which was not striving for victory but focusing on how to win the hearts of Dionian women. However, Siliteos was a noble after all, and he did not dare to accuse him. , had no choice but to bury his 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 previous sports games. I really want to see it earlier!" Siriteos' sigh made Mecca Kidd Si was stunned: Yes, Dionia can provide such comfortable accommodation and sumptuous food to the athletes, and what surprises will it bring to all athletes and city-state representatives at tomorrow's ceremony? !
Megakides is also full of longing.

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Hades Main Arena is the first arena since the establishment of Dionysia. It is located in the east center of Turiine City. It is the venue for the finals of the Kingdom Rugby and Football Finals every year. In order to meet the needs of In response to the growing demand for football game spectators, it has undergone several large-scale renovations and expansions. The most recent one occurred in the two years after King Davos announced that he would host the games. Now its architectural structure and appearance have been restored decades ago. It's very different from 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 15 square meters, and can usually accommodate nearly 000 spectators.It is not only a sacred place for football players and fans, but also one of the architectural wonders of the Turii region.

In the early morning of July 365, 7 BC (the 2th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), bustling people gathered from all directions to the main arena of Hades.At the same time, 29 entrances to the main arena of Hades were opened at the same time, and only one entrance was temporarily closed, which was the passage for royal members to enter and exit.

The ticket inspectors and patrol teams were in place, and the Turiyi City Hall even applied to the Ministry of Military Affairs to mobilize four reserve brigades from the Turiyi military camp 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 every entrance. Many spectators from all over Greece handed their tickets to the ticket inspectors with some trepidation. Because they had never had to pay to watch the games in the previous sports games held in Greece. This was the first time they bought tickets. They felt novel and a little nervous: would such a strange piece of paper work?

But for Dionian spectators, it is natural to buy tickets to watch the game. They have been practicing it for decades. Every year, Thurii and other regions in the kingdom bring a lot of money to the city hall just relying on ticket money. The income is small, and the tickets for this sports meeting are made of a thick blue paper newly developed by the Christoya Chamber of Commerce. It is almost impossible for anyone to forge it. Just write all the games on the tickets, It took nearly a month for dozens of scribes from the Chamber of Commerce to come up with the location, date, and seat numbers.

The ticket inspector mainly checks the authenticity of the tickets 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 the entrance, the audience must reach the number of floors specified on the ticket, and then hand over the ticket to the ticket inspector at the entrance of that floor again before entering the auditorium (Hades Main Arena has 4 floors in total, and each floor The prices are different. The first level is mainly for the kingdom’s elders, ministers, distinguished guests, and citizens and heroes who have made outstanding contributions to the kingdom. The fourth level has standing tickets (no seats available, and the price is the cheapest).

"It's so troublesome to enter the auditorium of the arena!" Iphicrates found his seat according to the seat number on the number plate, and started to complain as soon as he sat down: "I think we Athenians are already calculating enough. I didn’t expect the Dionians to be stingier than us, charging to watch sports events, which is really unheard of!”

Callistratus, who sat next to him, said a few fair words for Dionia: "This is understandable. They provided free accommodation and generous meals to all envoys and athletes. Food costs a lot of money, so it’s understandable to earn some money by collecting tickets. I just asked the conductor when I entered, and the price of the tickets is not high. The cheapest one is only three drachmas. The most expensive one is only 10 drachmas (tickets for each envoy group are donated by Turiyi City Hall, no need to pay), even poor people should be able to afford it."

"It's cheap, but look 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 have in the entire Olympics... Dionia can earn a huge fortune by holding a sports meeting!" Iphicrates counted his fingers and estimated the income of Dionia's sports meeting.

"Why, are you tempted?" Callistratus said jokingly: "Would you like to make suggestions at the meeting, learn from Dionia, and start charging fees at the future Panathenaic Games?"

Iphicrates really thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said: "I'm afraid this won't work. Let alone the fact that the Panathenaic Games does not have a tradition of charging fees. It is impossible for the public to accept it. Not to mention that our arena is open. , It is very difficult to restrict people from entering and exiting at will.”

"If we want to build such a huge and complex arena in Athens, the funds and manpower alone are already beyond our ability to bear, not to mention that the construction technology it requires is probably something we don't have now."

Callistratus scanned the entire venue with cautious eyes, and finally couldn't help but 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 in the city of Athens is generally maintained at 4000 to 5000). I am afraid it will take a long time to make profits. Therefore, such a huge building and such a charging method can only be as strong as Dionia. Only a big country with national strength and huge population can implement it!”

Ifikrates was silent, he was dissatisfied with Dionia before.As the adopted son of the former King of Macedonia, Amyntas, he wanted to lead troops to rescue the Macedonian rebellion four years ago, but was dissuaded by the Athenian General Executive Committee and had to first seek help from Dionia, the leader of the Greek Alliance. As a result, by the time Dionia sent troops, his sworn brother Alexander had already died in battle, and Dionia did not allow Macedonia to join the Greek alliance after quelling the rebellion, but instead formed an alliance with Macedonia alone... Iphicrates believed that Dionia Nyians have selfish motives.

Neither he nor Callistrapus had ever been to Thurii. This time he came as a member of the Athenian envoys and truly saw the power and prosperity of Dionia, which was far beyond what Athens could compare with. Some other thoughts in my heart were basically dismissed.At this moment, he was still a little dissatisfied and said: "The key depends on whether Dionia can run the sports meeting well, otherwise it will be useless no matter how well the arena is repaired!"

Callistratus somewhat understood 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 dominance in mainland Greece became more and more stable, , more and more Ionian city-states (islands in the Aegean Sea) joined the Greek Union, and Athens' expansion from the sea has been blocked, and because it has become an alliance with Dionia, Athens' business channels Greatly expanded, the domestic market is more prosperous, commercial taxes have increased significantly, the treasury is also rich, and citizens enjoy this kind of peace and comfort more. The situation has changed, and Callistratus has never opposed Dionia. thought.

He didn't continue chatting on this topic, but pointed to the side, and said in surprise: "Look, Agesilaus is here too! I thought he wouldn't come to this sports meeting."

　Thanks to Yu Jing for the tip!Your support is my motivation to write!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)