Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Silsitas sighed: "The last time the messenger of Agsilaus came here to seek the Oracle, he also asked me a request,'Hopefully when the hostile city-state of Sparta comes here to seek the Oracle At that time, we were able to quietly tell the Spartans what they asked for..."

"It's more than that." Patmos, who was in charge of St. Ku, said angrily: "After leaving the temple, Polybiadas went to my place deliberately, and he said intentionally or unintentionally, ' This time they expended a large amount of supplies on the expedition to Northern Greece, and also owed more than a thousand mercenaries in the team'..."

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

"Teach Sparta? It is now the hegemon of Greece, and there is Persian support behind it. If it is irritated, it may be more detrimental to us Delphi..." Patmos said with some concern.

At this time, the priest Sitarses said after thinking for a long time: "Who said that we are going to confront Sparta head-on! We can invite a powerful force to join the Holy Alliance to balance Spartan in the alliance. Has an absolute advantage."

The priests' eyes lit up.

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

"Macedonia!" Kabatas snorted: "The Spartan expedition to Northern Greece is to help Macedonia. The Macedonians are grateful that Sparta is too late, how can it fight against it! What's more, although the territory of Macedonia is vast, but Without enough power, even Barbarians can't overcome, how can it be possible to fight the powerful Sparta!"

At this time, another priest, Cretimeni, oh, hesitantly said: "I am afraid that the Greek forces that can now fight Sparta are only Dionia... shall we invite it?"

As soon as his words fell, Kabatas objected loudly: "No! No! Dionysia is a barbarous kingdom, not a Greek force at all!"

"How could the Kingdom of Dionysia be a barbaric country? There were many scholars who went to Turiy at the All-Greece Scholars Conference held there last year and this year, and they all praised the academic atmosphere there. Not to mention, Dioni Turri, Tarantum, Lockley, Silitine, Crotone, Lijim, Katane, subordinate to the Kingdom of Asia... These cities were all famous Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean more than ten years ago. Delphi Santaku has contributed a lot of gold and silver..." Cretimeni defended.

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

Cretini sighed: "You, it is not decades ago, everything depends on the strength of the city-state, the tradition has been broken one by one, and the covenant of the Holy Alliance also said,'Don't allow destruction Any city-state in the alliance.'But can you see that there are few examples of Sparta destroying Mandinia and Platia! And Dionysia is the most powerful Greek country in the Western Mediterranean, and it is probably the entire Greece. The most powerful force in the world, even the Spartans have repeatedly taken the initiative to negotiate the covenant in Turui. Only by inviting Dionia to join the alliance will the overbearing Spartan be afraid and converge his behavior. ."

Cretimene's words made everyone thoughtful.

Patmos said in embarrassment: "Even if we are interested in inviting Dioria to join the Holy Alliance, will Dionia agree? You have to know that in the past few years, we have opposed Diaonia's participation in the tournament as strongly as Olympia. It never offered gold and silver to the Sanctuary of Delphi, but secretly promoted the barbarism of Dionia, hoping that the Greek free people would not emigrate to Dionysia..."

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

Kabatas complained: "Dionysia highly praised Hades, making the Dionyan people who came to Delphi to seek oracles less and less...If this continues, I am afraid that the Greeks throughout the Western Mediterranean will Treat Delphi as nothing."

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

At this time, the priest Sir Citas said: "It seems that you have all determined that the Greek country to be invited is Dionia. As for the problem of the Temple of Hades, I don't think everyone has to worry about it. I know Dai Although the Temple of Hades in Onia is very important to the people of Dionysia, it seems that the Temple of Hades is not very important in divination and oracles, and this is precisely what Delphi is good at. The realm is also the only realm!" Silsitas emphasized and emphasized.

He knew in his heart that the reason why Hades was able to develop so quickly in Dionysia was definitely the impetus of the powerful king who claimed to be a "descendant of Hades", and Delphi should not be stupid enough to slap the tiger's beard : "Delphi and Hades temples do not conflict with each other. I think the centuries-old orthodox tradition of Delphi will make the Dionysian people who are in difficulty and hope to be guided by Apollo. And we can also guide Greek free people in difficult circumstances travel to the Italian peninsula to find a new life..."

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

Sircitas sighed: "This is my biggest concern. I heard that in the covenant signed between Dionia and Sparta, there is a treaty that'Dionia should not be involved in Eastern Mediterranean affairs' Although this illustrates Spartan’s fear of Dionysia, it also proves that the Spartans are full of vigilance against Dionysia, and Sparta will definitely oppose Dionysia to join the Holy Alliance."

"But the Holy Alliance does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of other city-states. It is just an organization that protects Delphi. I don't think Sparta will react so violently." Clementi relieved.

Silsitas came up with the idea that he had already thought about: "My suggestion is... Can we send someone to Turiri to discuss with King Dionysia and let them take the initiative to ask the Holy Alliance? , And we privately contact Athens, Corinth, Argos, Mecca, and other city-states that have gaps with Sparta. In this way, we can exert pressure on both sides. I believe that Sparta can't consider it carefully..."

After hearing all the priests, they thought the idea was good, and no one raised an objection,'What if Dionia does not want to join the Holy Alliance?'Because, in their opinion, Dionysia could be invited by the Greek Holy Land Delphi, it must be ecstatic.

Patmos looked at Petia, who kept her eyes closed and reverently, and asked politely, "What did Apollo's oracle say about this time?"

Things like this must have been consulted with the oracles of Apollo in advance. It is impossible to raise them at the meeting of the priests if there is no hope of success at all.

Everyone's eyes focused on Pitia.The elderly woman dressed in a girl's costume (this dress is required by the Temple of Apollo, she is a symbol of chastity) opened her cloudy eyes and chanted with her hoarse and low voice: "The hot sun,

Depleting its brilliance,

Fall under the mountains,

The dark night has come,

After a lot of bonfires,

Shine it like daylight,

..."

As the priests pondered the profound meaning of this oracle, Silsitas said: "Since Dionysia had Hades as the protector of the kingdom, this god is the Lord of darkness, so I think Apollo The oracle is saying,'The sun represented by Sparta is about to fall, and Dionysia will replace it. As for the campfires, I haven't figured out, maybe it refers to another emerging force..."

The oracles are always obscure and difficult to understand, just like the deities themselves are opaque.Although the priests were difficult to understand for a while, it did not affect their execution of this matter, because it seemed that at least the general direction was correct...

……………………………

Last summer's hot summer killed a king of Sparta Agassipolis.This summer, it was a huge test for Dionia.

In the Dionysian palace, King Davers, Commerce Minister Mariji, Finance Minister Mercis, and the five rotating chairmen of the senate are all listening to the report of the Secretary of Agriculture Burcos.

"Actually, last year, there was less rain in the spring and summer than in the past. And this year, from February to July, there has been no rain in more than 5 months in the southern Italian region, Lucani Asia, Apulia (this area includes Mesapi, Puceti and Dawn), Greater Greece, and Bruti all face severe water shortages, like the Cissno and Saraceno rivers These small rivers have basically bare river beds and turned into creeks. Large rivers such as the Krati, Ramato and Neto rivers also have narrower river surfaces and lower water levels...

If it is not a large-scale application of waterwheels, a large area of ​​wheat seedlings may have died out in the Subari Plain, Croton Plain, Overmia Plain, and Cosenza Plateau, but if such drought continues for a month, I am afraid that During the autumn harvest in September, the entire southern Italian region will suffer a severe failure.Judging from this situation now, this bad situation is very likely to happen!..."

"It's not just a problem of crop failure. This dry weather has lasted so long, the grass in the mountains has also died, and many of the livestock that the herdsmen have died have died!" Weisba lamented.

"I remember the last drought in southern Italy was 25 years ago. The weather has been smooth in these years, and the kingdom and the people have benefited a lot. I am afraid that many people have not prepared anything for this!" Lucias said solemnly.