Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Since there were still dozens of athletes left in the stadium, all of whom were about to compete in the 100m race, most of them did not eat immediately, although the Games preparatory team had also prepared lunch for them, but were on the track to acclimatise to the course and warm up.

On this side of the field, close to the royal stand, Games staff inserted wooden poles at the ends of the already measured track and then tied very long thin ropes to the poles, taut on the ground, and then the judges, holding long pole spoons, traced a straight white line of up to 100 meters long along the thin ropes on the solid dirt ......

"I was wondering how to run a race in this arena without a starting slab or a single finishing stone pillar. Now I know that those white lines drawn in white powder are the start line, the finish line and a runway, which is pretty clear and understandable!"

"But I counted them and they only traced out six tracks with white lines, did they only have six runners in the race at a time? I remember other games where there were a dozen stone pillars at the finish line alone, and a dozen runners competing at the same time~-"

"It's nothing, just a few more rounds! The key is that there are few runners at a time, which can avoid confusion and make it easier for the judges to supervise, it seems that the Deionians have carefully referenced the drawbacks of other games and are genuinely interested in making this one a good one."

The man speaking was a middle-aged citizen of the city-state of Oconomanus from the Arcadian League, Halpius, who had competed in many races at various games in his youth, and then was too old to compete, but was keen to watch the games. His greatest regret was that he did not win, and once came very close to winning, but his final result was affected by a neighbouring runner hitting him in the face as he waved his arm, and he complained to the umpire, but to no avail, and he therefore abhorred some of the ills of the Greek games.

Harpius was a long-time Games fan, and when he learned that the Greek world domination of Dionysia was hosting the games, he didn't hesitate to come and watch, and was lucky enough to buy tickets for the opening ceremony. Before entering the arena, he had been very critical of the Dionysian Games, but after the opening ceremony, his feelings towards the Games grew even stronger: the ceremony was unprecedented, but most importantly, he felt the respect that the Dionysian Games showed to the athletes.

As an experienced athlete, he knew the hardships of being an athlete: in addition to the grueling training, he had to go to the stadium by himself before the games started, pay for his own accommodation and food, register at the temple in time to be questioned in detail by the priests, the tedious preparations before the games, the tension and irritation that no one could relieve, the glory after the games going to the winner, and no one to greet the other losers, even if they were injured ......

But this time the Dionysian Games were significantly different, he had talked to the athletes of the Arcadian League: Dionysia not only provided free and comfortable accommodation and food to all the participating athletes, but also asked the participating city-states to send officials who were responsible for taking care of all the athletes' chores, which meant that the athletes could devote themselves to the competition without worrying about other issues. And at the opening ceremony, the Dionysians arranged for the athletes to go around the field for a week to receive salutes and cheers from so many spectators ......

Harpius regretted that he had been born a few years earlier and had not enjoyed such a distinction.

So Harpius, who had a fondness for the Dionysian Games, certainly hoped that the Dionysian Games would also be outstanding once they entered the competition phase, and his experienced competitive eye scrutinized the layout of the stadium and soon noticed something different from previous Games.

"I had heard that the Dionysian Games would not only have a 100m race, but also 200m, 400m and 800m ...... After I entered the venue, I noticed that there were no stone pillars in the stadium as markers, and I had been wondering how they would conduct a long-distance race (in the Greek games, when conducting a long-distance race, the athletes would run from the starting stone to the finishing stone pillar, then run around the pillar and back again, and so on back and forth until they ran the full distance, similar to today's back-and-forth running), but now I understand.

You see! The Dionysians built the whole arena in a great circle of small stone bricks, and then, as now, drew a track with powdered lime around the whole circle, and the racers ran around the whole big circle, not to mention a few hundred meters, and a few thousand meters could easily be held, which is much simpler than running around the stone pillars!"

Harpius was deeply impressed by the way long-distance races had been run in previous games, and with his decades of experience in the sport, he spoke in a way that was both coherent and engaging, naturally attracting a crowd of spectators, led by him, who were engaged in a serious discussion.

At that moment, someone shouted, "Look up there, you guys! By God, the Dionysian is going to cover the sky!"

The Gentile spectators tilted their heads, then opened their mouths wide in astonishment: they saw that a long strip of white cloth was slowly converging towards the center of the arena above the main arena, piecing together a thin white cloth cover that covered the arena, blocking out the direct sunlight from the top of the noon sun and providing shade for the spectators.

Xenophon, who had come to the Daoria Arena for the first time, was as amazed as any other Gentile spectator and couldn't help but ask, "How did this happen?"

Davos looked calm and replied: "Actually it's very simple, there are 200 wooden poles erected on the edge of the top of the arena, each pole is connected to the pole that passes through the center of the arena on the opposite side with a pulley thin rope, when there is a sunny day and there is a competition, the arena managers will tie a special cloth on the thin rope of each pole, and then turn the pulley, you can push the cloth to converge over the center ...... However, while we are enjoying all this at ease, don't forget that there are hundreds of managers at the top of the arena who are serving us under the blazing sun ......".

"As simple as it sounds, the design is ingenious!" Plato on the other side sighed from the bottom of his heart: "The key is that this kind of spirit is not willing to endure difficulties, but to try to solve them, and to try to do the best he can, is very rare! Unlike us Greeks, who are rough and not too particular about our lives, the Dionysians are very demanding and this spirit of inquiry of striving to be the best permeates all aspects of the kingdom ...... So I am confident that Dionysia's hosting of the Games will not only be a success, but that it will make the All Greeks have a new understanding of the Games!"

"Hahahaha ......" laughed Davos cheerfully, "Good for you Plato, you can make a great point about a little thing!"

Xenophon didn't speak, he looked overhead, thoughtful.

As the foreign spectators marveled at the ingenious design of the main arena, the athletes began to exit the arena, which caused some of them to wonder, "Is the race not taking place?"

And some experienced spectators, like Halpius, said with conviction, "No, the race is about to start!"

As they said, the athletes went to the lounge next to the entrance to the arena, and since the Dionysian tournament was held every year, this room dedicated to the players to rest was comfortably decorated, but the athletes had no desire to feel this, they took off their costumes from when they had made their entrance, and then changed into the shorts specially provided by Dionysia, then began to carefully apply olive oil evenly to their bodies, and when this was done, each one began to make a devotional prayer to Apollo to soothe their nervous minds.

After a while. A priest walked in and said loudly, "Contestants, it's time to enter the arena!"

When Silitaios, who was already in a calm mood, heard this, his heart began to beat faster again.

The dozens of athletes once again returned to the arena, and the priest gathered them together, as this was the first competition of the Dionysian Games, in order to ensure its smooth running, as the head of the judging panel, Calcedius himself took charge of the event. This period of practice should have given you a good understanding of the rules of the running events at the Dionysian Games, but I'll repeat them before the race - only the runner whose name is called may participate in the race; the rest of the runners must stay away from the track and must not interfere with the race; the referee calls the 'start of the race' 's command before a runner can start; before the start, the foot must not cross the starting line; after the start, the runner must not deviate from his track, must not interfere with other runners, and must not intentionally hinder or injure ......

Any violation of any of these rules will result in disqualification! In the event of a wilful and extremely serious violation, the referees will report the athlete's condition to the Games Preparatory Team, who will decide whether or not the athlete's face should be engraved on the disciplinary wall of the soon-to-be-built Dionysian Games Memorial, as an admonition to future participants in the Dionysian Games! --did you all hear that?!"

"Clear!" The contestants nodded their heads in response one after another.

Only then did Calcedius show a smile, palms to the heavens, and say warmly, "May Hades bless you!"

Then one of the priests took the roster of athletes and said loudly, "May I have your attention please, the runners whose names I have called for round 1 - Silitaios! track 1!"

Silitaios was stunned: it's not too much luck to call him on the 1st one!