Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

The bronze round basin on the altar had been filled with olive oil, and the torch made contact with it, immediately igniting a roaring flame that radiated heat all around.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, Max seemed to see the familiar faces through the scorching firelight, and one by one they smiled at him, shouting loudly and forcefully, "Yes, Captain!" Then under his leadership, shouting the name of Hades, he killed the routed enemy ......

Two lines of hot tears rolled down Max's cheeks.

With the help of the two teenagers, Max walked to the exit of the arena, before his mood returned, he was busy thanking the two teenagers.

But one of the teenagers waved his hand and said, "Uncle, you're welcome! My name is Christod, and Clotokatacus is my father."

And another teenager followed, "My ...... name is Enon, and Adoris is my father!"

"Lord Commander?! ...... captain?! ...... "Max was stunned, as if the underworld had a divine plan, once again bringing his thoughts back to that bloody meeting. Emotions swirling rapidly, he hugged the two teenagers and cried aloud ......

..................................................................

At that moment, in the arena, the head of the referee team, Karl Sidious, walked through the ranks of athletes to the front of the altar, and in front of the scrutinizing eyes of the athletes, he solemnly said in a loud voice: "By the gods, I, Karl Sidious, as a referee of this Games, am willing to swear to you, in front of thousands of spectators, that I will always be fair and impartial to each and every one of you in the Games! Athletes, preside over every competitive event in strict accordance with the rules of the Games, and handle every dispute seriously and responsibly ...... If you violate your oath, you will be chastised!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire judging panel of over 200 priests in unison also began to take the oath, and the sound of over 200 people converging made it mostly audible to the spectators in the nearby stands.

Many of the spectators from Greek city-states were stunned after hearing the oath, although the Dionysian Games had the same oath-taking process as the previous Greek games, but there were obvious differences: first of all, whether it was the Olympia Games, the Pythian Games, the Corinthian Games, or the Nemean Games ...... all swore to one main god, where was the oath to the gods like now, which seemed to be a bit of child's play, and when something really went wrong, which deity would be the one to bring down the divine punishment?

Secondly, priests, as judges, are not required to swear, because they are the spokesmen of the gods on earth and are respected by the people, so how could they cheat in the games? However, the fact that the priests were bribed by the athletes and even the city-state to tamper with the results of the games was not unknown.

In the past, the athletes swore at the statues in the temples, under the guidance of the priests, and in the privacy of the spectators. This time, the oath was taken in the middle of the arena, with the words "to be witnessed by spectators outside the arena", which was more pleasing to the public, since the punishment of the gods was ethereal and the anger of the people could be expressed directly.

In any case, the novel way of swearing at the Dionysian Games succeeded in generating a lively discussion among the spectators.

And then in the stadium a representative of the Turian athletes again led all the athletes in a solemn oath with a similar oath, and the powerful noise formed by several thousand people spread throughout the venue, causing an even greater sensation.

Amidst the excitement of the crowd, the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games finally came to an end and the teams of judges and athletes began to retire in order.

The spectators were mostly left feeling unimpressed by this, and even the most critical representatives of Olympia, Delphi, and Corinth, while considering their city-state's games to be more sacred, had to admit that the opening ceremony of their games had been too brief, neither lively enough nor too private, and far less appealing to the eyes of the less knowledgeable spectators than the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games.

"Your Majesty, just as you said in your previous invitation letter, the opening ceremony of this Games is truly magnificent and new, and it has opened my eyes, and I feel as if I haven't seen enough!" Plato was heartily impressed.

Xenophon wanted to make a retort, but didn't say anything after all.

Davos harrumphed, "This opening ceremony has been going on for several hours, and now it's noon, according to the Dionysian custom, it's now time for lunch. It doesn't matter if you haven't seen enough, the goodies are still to come, let's eat lunch and continue to watch the rest of the games."

The Deionian Games didn't just have an opening ceremony on Day 1, there was a 100-meter race afterwards.

It was Davos's proposal, and he was going to use the combo to clearly tell those who were full of doubts about whether the Deionian Games could be done right that not only were the opening ceremonies good, but the competition was great!" Thus inspiring all the national and gentile populations in Turii to watch the Games.

During the lunch, Xenophon raised the following question: "Devers, when I entered the arena, I saw on the wall at the entrance that you had posted a notice that in addition to the opening ceremony, there would be a qualifying race of 100 meters, and by "100 meters" I mean 100 meters? Have you Dionysian sports changed the distances for running races in the traditional Greek games?"

As the country's power grew stronger and trade exchanges with other city-states became more frequent, the Dionysian metrics were gradually accepted by foreign merchants because they were more systematic, more refined and easier to use.

After taking a sip of ice-cold water, Davos nonchalantly explained: "After the research of the Dionysian Academy, it has been proven that the distance we humans can sprint at full strength is about 100 meters, and as the distance gradually increases, endurance will replace explosive power, so the 100-meter race is to test the speed limit that we adults can reach in a full sprint. "

"In this way, the shortest distance (about 192 meters) in the old Games running competition was ...... a test to show the physical endurance of the athlete to maintain this high speed after an all-out sprint?" Plato was thoughtful.

"Exactly." Davos nodded in response, "The 200 meters at the Dionysian Games and the shortest distance run at previous Games are designed to do just that, while the 400 and 800 meters are more of a test of endurance-"

"What about the marathon?" Xenophon interrupted him and asked, "Is it meant to be a complete test of adult speed endurance? Davos, how did you come up with the idea of using it as a race entry in the first place?"

Although both Xenophon and Plato were not interested in the present-day Athenian government, they were, after all, Athenians and equally proud of Athens' once glorious history, and Davos was well aware of this, so he said solemnly, "The Marathon Games are of great importance to all Greeks, and the race in its name will undoubtedly give the Greek public, and indeed the entire Mediterranean population, a long remembrance of that long-gone history.

In terms of the competition itself, the marathon run is not just a test of the runners' maximum endurance, it is a test of their willpower, not to mention the fact that winning the title and being able to keep running the whole distance is no easy task."

"Yes, its even back then Scudder Fiddy Pits, in the spirit of winning the battle, ran the whole course without stopping, but eventually died of exhaustion, so the marathon is a very dangerous project!" Xenophon said with a somewhat stern face.

"But even so, there are still quite a few Athenians who have signed up for this race event, and they clearly want to bring the glory of the marathon championship back to Athens," Plato said.

"Then they'll face competition from the best distance runners in Deionia." Davos laughed and said seriously, "But don't worry too much, we have taken into account the dangers of this race and have placed medical staff along the entire marathon to immediately rescue anyone who notices anything unusual. Moreover, we have also made special rules for this race, participants in this race are required to live within their means and are allowed to drop out halfway through the race when they are in poor health ......"

........................................................................

As Davos and his two friends gossiped about the games inside the royal stands, the spectators were not idle. The Deionians were experienced in watching ball games for years, and since they knew they would be inside the arena all day today, the vast majority of them had brought lunch beforehand and were now eating in their seats with their families.

Although the Gentile audience is not used to eating lunch, but this morning non-stop cheering and clapping, consumption is also very large, after seeing the Dionysian audience next to each and every chewing food, have felt hungry. And just in time, a number of vendors appeared in the passageway between the spectators, selling them bread, salted fish, cured meats, dried fruits, and berries ...... quickly sold out.

As the spectators ate their food and talked excitedly about the opening ceremony that had just taken place, they watched the scene with curiosity, wondering how the rest of the game was going to play out.