Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Silitaios didn't respond in time because he was so stunned, the priest had to shout again and he quickly responded, "Yes!"

The priest glared at him, but did not rebuke, then called out the names behind him.

Once the six runners were identified, the priest led them to the runway.

The spectators, seeing the runners heading to the runway and realizing that the race was about to begin, immediately began cheering again. Silitaios, who was at the front of the pack, even heard someone in the audience nearest to him shouting, "Look, isn't that the athlete who bowed to His Majesty!"

Silitaios felt a thousand eyes focused on him now, and even his sharp eyes saw young women among the crowd watching him ......

While exclaiming that "Dionysian women are as bold as they are said to be", Silitaios also suddenly felt that it was necessary for the Dionysians to require them to wear shorts, at least he wouldn't be embarrassed by the women's stares.

The outgoing Cyrteaus was not only nervous, but immediately perked up, striding forward with his head held high.

The sun shone down on him from the unshaded center of the arena: though not very tall, Siraitios was handsome, his muscles were strong and well-proportioned, the olive oil covering his skin reflected the sunlight, and his whole body glittered like a god. Especially when he was warming up on his own runway, the strength and beauty shown by the contraction and stretching of his muscles made many male spectators sigh in admiration, while a few female spectators' eyes lit up.

After the runners acclimated to the track, they made their way back to the starting line, took a trowel from the judge, and began digging two small holes in the track.

"What are they doing?" A spectator was puzzled.

Harpius looked at it for a moment before he said, "In the old days, all sporting events had a starting slate, which not only served as a marker for the start, but the dents in the slate helped the runners to start well and not slip. There are no starting slabs on this track, but I think these little pits serve the same purpose ......"

It dawned on the spectators.

The athletes were now stepping their bare feet into small pits in front of and behind them to firm them up and make it easier to power off at the start.

Two referees stood at each end of the starting line, one to give the orders and one to monitor if any runners were fouled. A red band of cloth was also drawn up at the end of the 100 meters, and the atmosphere in the stadium began to grow heavy.

Feeling nervous again, Silitaios looked to the runner next to him, an interracial runner who was not allowed to compete at all in any other sporting event, but was allowed to appear on the Dionysian sports field with dignity, and the Dionysian Judges had specifically stipulated that there would be no discrimination between the runners, or they would be disqualified from the race!

So Silitaios showed a smile to this contestant.

But this player from the Samonai Mountains, who was clearly nervous as this was his first time participating in such a competition, didn't care to pay attention to the goodwill sent by Siritaios.

Siliotaios, who was asking for trouble, cursed under his breath and refocused his attention on the match that was about to begin.

At that moment, a loud shout from the referee could be heard, "Attention, all players!"

Silitaios immediately tensed up mentally, half bending down, his body in front of him.

"Ready-" the referee was about to give the order to start when a figure sprang out, causing the other runners to follow suit.

The referees were able to call a halt to the race, and the first offender was called to the front of the field, number 2, who was right next to Cyritios.

The severity with which the Dionysian referee treated the offending athlete sent chills down the spine of the players on the field, but also made the spectators, who were waiting for a laugh, realize that the Dionysians were serious about their declaration that they would "punish athletes who cheat at the Games".

As they got back to the starting line, Silitheos and the others were a little depressed, not only from the physical exertion, but also from the shock of being sent off.

It was at this point that a huge shout went up from the crowd, cheering them on and getting their spirits back up.

"Ready-" the referee once again raised his right hand high.

The eyes of all the spectators were focused on the runners on the starting line, and the thought was more or less on their minds: the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games was great, but was the start of the real race just as great? It was immediately apparent.

The referee swung his hand down hard, "Run!"

The runners, fearing further penalties, did not get off the start line until they heard the signal, almost all of them half a beat too slow.

But immediately after the start, almost all the runners ran with all their might, because many of them, like Cyritios, who had participated in previous games, knew from the previous practice that the 100m race at the Dionysian Games was half the distance of the shortest distance race at other games, and that if they did not give their all from the beginning, they would not have a chance to win.

Siraitios swiftly waved his arms, feet alternating quickly forward, the wind pressure from the face of the huge wrinkled his face, the corner of his eyes could see the fierce face of the runner alongside him, the rapid breathing is like a sword constantly stabbed behind him, urging him to move forward even harder ......

Before he had even reached the halfway point of the race, he felt his entire chest constricting and uncomfortable, like there was a blazing fire burning every lobe of his lungs, making him shout out, "Ah!!!! ......"

Rarely in the past have you been able to see such a scene in a Games running race: all the racers are roaring at the top of their voices, and with that continued roar, they are getting faster ......

Almost all of the spectators were so excited by the bloodthirsty scene that they all stood up, shouting and screaming, and the sound waves that erupted from the arena resounded throughout the entire city of Tulii, making the people of Dionysia who were unable to buy tickets outside the arena itch.

Arrakis, who had been sitting bored at the back of the royal stand, suddenly rushed forward, gripping the railing with both hands, staring at the runners who were trying their best to run, as if he wanted to imprint their postures in his mind, muttering to himself, "Great! Great! This is exactly what I want! ......"

Xenophon and Plato look equally astonished: too soon! Faster than any runner they've ever seen in a race before! As Davos said, the 100m can totally show off the runners' ability to sprint at full force!

This display of the limits of human speed shocked the spectators in the stadium, making them stare at the sprinters without even daring to blink their eyes.

The spectators suddenly let out a shout.

It turned out that when he was about to rush to the finish line, Siraitios, who had already exhausted all his strength, suddenly lost his footing, and under the push of huge inertia force, his whole body fell forward to the ground when he hit the line first.

The doctor, who had been paying close attention to the field, quickly rushed over and helped him up. After confirming that Siraitios only had some minor bruises and was unharmed, referee Karl Sidious walked over and raised his right hand, indicating that Siraitios was the winner of the first qualifying round.

As there were no accurate timing tools in this era to accurately test the time each runner took to complete the hundred meters and determine the best of the top runners for the final based on their results in the qualifying rounds, the only way the Dionysian Games could do this and ensure fairness was to allow only the winners of each round of the qualifying rounds to advance to the repechage or final, as there would only be one winner, no runner-ups and no 3rd place finishers, in keeping with the tradition of the Rare Games.

The crowd applauded the eliminated other competitors as they walked dejectedly towards the exit of the arena, thanking them for putting on such a great show.

And though Silitaios, who walked last, looked a bit of a mess with dust on his face and a few bloodstains on his body, the crowd gave him an even louder cheer: the young man from Crete had won the approval of the Dionysian public with this one match.

As dusk approached, the day's competition came to an end, and when he saw that many of the spectators around him were still talking enthusiastically about the opening ceremony and the race, the emissary from Olympia was in a mixed mood, and although he was critical, he had to admit in his heart: both the opening ceremony and the subsequent race were new and exciting to him, and the Dionysian Games had indeed got off to a good start!

And when many of the Dionysian spectators walked out of the arena, they were surrounded by other familiar Turii citizens, asking questions about what had happened in the arena, and these spectators were happy to share with them.

Thus, after nightfall, candlelight illuminated the entire city of Tulii, and the restaurants and taverns in the streets were crowded with customers, drinking wine, eating food, and talking endlessly about the funny things that had happened inside the main arena of Hattis, and laughter filled the air everywhere.

Such hilarious scenes also took place in the Dionysian royal court.

Davos held a family banquet at his residence on the hill to celebrate the success of the opening ceremonies of the Dionysian Games, but it was Christod and Enon's two grandchildren who were most talked about at the banquet for their sensible performance at the Games.

The two teenagers are so shy at their family's unspoken praise that they want to run away from the banquet.

Just then, Ribazo, the head of the court, quietly entered the dining room and came to whisper to Davos, who was sitting at the head table.

Davos's smile remained the same, but he stood up.