Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"Master, look there!" the captain shouted in surprise.

It turned out that an Egyptian herdsman drove a group of cows to graze on the tidal flats on the shore, but did not want a crocodile lurking there, almost biting the calf.The herdsman stepped forward in panic to get rid of the crocodile, but found that the crocodile was not big, so he wanted to hunt it. He drove his hound to harass the crocodile to prevent it from escaping back into the river, while holding the wood Great, start attacking carefully...

This thrilling scene soon attracted the passing papyrus boat and the neighboring farmer. They were surrounded by pickaxes to see the excitement, and some people shouted, "Hey, do you need my help?! But kill Score me a little after the crocodile!"

In the busy and boring work, farmers rarely have this moment of leisure...

At noon, Ansitanos passed through a city-Nauklatis.

This is an Egyptian town very related to the Greeks.

More than 200 years ago, the Egyptians, with the full support of Greek mercenaries from Ionia and Kalia, overthrew Assyrian rule and gained independence.Pharaoh Psameticus accepted these meritorious Greeks, and built the Daphne Castle in the east of the Nile Delta to let the Greek soldiers live, and also issued an order: to open Egyptian trade to the outside world and allow Greece People live permanently in Egypt.

As a result, the Miletus built a cargo plus workshop by the Kalobek River.With the continuous arrival of the Greeks, a Greek town gradually emerged around this workshop area, named Naukratis (and the meaning of the Queen of the Sea).

For a long time, this colonial city has become a port shared by all Greek merchants, even under the current Persian rule, where Alcibidas used to trade.

Seeing the people in the port area of ​​the city wearing familiar Greek costumes made Ansitanos feel very kind, but his boat will not stop here, but continue to move forward.

Finally, at dusk, the ship passed the Nile Delta and entered the wider Nile River. At this time, the sky was dark. The captain was unfamiliar with the channel and dared not go any further. He could only moor on the shore and hire a tracker.

Ansitanos and his subordinates spent the night on the boat, listening to the sounds of the sounds of the Nile River, and the strange animal sounds on the shore or in the river. This is a strange experience for young people, and For Ansitanos, who is in his 50s, it was a big torture.Especially the bites of the mosquitoes made him really eat some bitterness, and it was late at night until he fell asleep because of fatigue.

The next day, he barely rallied and continued on.

A few hours later, the ship passed through the ancient town of Giza.

When Ansitanos looked over the West Bank and could vaguely see the outlines of the tall pyramids on the Giza Plateau, his spirit was finally uplifted.

At noon, the passenger ship finally entered the Memphis capital of Egypt.

There are more boats on the Nile near Memphis, but there are few tender papyrus boats, and there are more narrow, pointed ends with a canopy in the middle, equipped with many oarsmen, and the captain ranges from a few meters to Wooden boats are available at tens of meters, and of course occasionally large and large passenger ships can be seen.

Ansitanos marveled at the tall outer wall of Memphis when he was on the ship. It was nearly 15 meters high, and the buildings inside the city were barely visible outside the city, except for the towering obelisk and the palace in the center of the city.

Because Pharaoh had received a summons from the Karabik River whistle in advance, the Dionysian passenger ship was allowed to enter the inner city's dock.

This is a good sign!Ansitano thought.

Ansitanos landed on the pier, and a carriage was already waiting on the shore.

After getting on the carriage, under the control of the driver, the carriage galloped toward the palace.

The inner city is a gathering place for prominent Egyptian officials, high priests in various temples, wealthy nobles and members of the royal family, so you can see magnificent temples, luxurious mansions and mansions next to each other along the way. Shows the grandeur and luxury of the ancient capital.

The carriage drove on a wide and straight avenue. According to Ansitano's visual inspection, the avenue was wide enough for dozens of carriages to move side by side. At the end of the avenue, a more high wall lay in front of you. That is where the Egyptian palace is.

When passing through the majestic city gate, Ansitanos made a rough estimate. The city wall is more than ten meters thick, which shows that Pharaoh's concern for his own safety.

Moving forward, you can see dozens of towering golden statues standing on both sides of the avenue, each of which is about 20 meters high. Although they are human bodies, they are equipped with animal heads.Ansitanos knew that these statues should be gods revered by the Egyptians.

At the end of these huge gods, a magnificent and magnificent palace towered, letting Anita Norston, who was off the carriage and standing in front of the steps, feel small.

On the hundreds of steps, on both sides of the main entrance of the palace, there is a huge statue of Aries, lying on their backs, with their eyes wide open, overlooking the visitors outside the palace, leaving the center of Egypt a little less solemn and mysterious At the same time, it is a little more elegant and peaceful.

An official, with a team of mighty guards, took a steady step and stepped down: "The messenger from the Kingdom of Dionysia, the great pharaoh is waiting in the hall, please follow me to see you!"

Ansitanos bowed down to salute and opened his hands to let the guards check whether they were carrying any weapons.

Ansitanos stepped up the stairs, walked through the huge colonnade that required three or four people to hug, and entered the hall.

The extremely flat four walls are supplemented with smooth plaster and painted with colorful flowers and plants; on the smooth marble floor, vivid lotus aquatic plants, birds and animals are drawn as if they are in The fresh nature; coupled with all kinds of strange and exquisite gold and silver objects in the hall, the whole hall looks magnificent.

Pharaoh Nektanib occupies the throne.

The general-born pharaoh is tall and strong, with dark skin. He usually likes to wear a red striped Nemes headband that symbolizes the identity of the pharaoh. It is simple and elegant.However, he clearly valued this interview, so he brought the most orthodox red and white crown symbolizing the union of two powers, and gold made of Eulas (a kind of cobra in Egypt) decorated his forehead.He also wore a fake beard and a token in his right hand.

Sitting the queen on his left hand, the goose-style crown made of gold was lightly buckled on her head, and the spread wings pressed down her straight black hair, letting her long hair hang on her chest.She wears precious chest ornaments and wears a gorgeous skirt, which looks graceful and luxurious.

Although Ancitanos learned from the information that Egyptian women have a higher social status, the queen is particularly so, and even participates in state affairs.But for the first time today, I saw a woman appearing on a major state occasion, but I was slightly surprised.He did not know that it was precisely because the queen was not of royal descent, that Pharaoh Nektanybu made her frequently appear on state occasions to improve her status and stabilize her and family rule.

On both sides of the hall stood a number of ministers and generals, who all looked at Ansitanos who entered the hall with curiosity.

Ansitano stood calmly in front of the throne and finished the ceremony respectfully.As a Greek scholar, to study historical materials in various places, Ansitanos purchased Egyptian slaves and studied Egyptian writing and language carefully at a young age. At this moment he said in standard Egyptian aloud: "Dear Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, I bring the friendly greetings of King Daphes from the Kingdom of Dionysian, and at the same time present a generous gift to express his sincere congratulations! Congratulations on your being loved by God Amon and becoming the owner of Egypt!"

As soon as Ansitanos had finished speaking, the minister closest to Pharaoh stepped forward and said a few words to Pharaoh in a low voice.

Nektany Bharat heard that Dionia’s gifts were a huge number of spears, swords, shields, armor, and even several three-tier paddle warships docked at the river mouth... Satisfaction: There is no shortage of food, gold and silver jewelry in Egypt, but more elaborate weapons and soldiers.

Therefore, he also had a smile on his face: "Thank you very much for the sincere blessings and generous gifts from King Daveus from the West! Although Egypt and Dionia are far apart, I have heard many times about the Kingdom of Dionia. The prestige and the bravery of King Dapheus can be greeted by the king who also has the noble blood of the gods (the Egyptians think that Pharaoh is the incarnation of God, and Pharaoh often publicly declares himself to be the son of God Ra), which makes me very happy! Warmly welcome your visit, Dionysia's messenger!"

Nektany Bharat stood up, extended his left hand, and made a welcome gesture.

What he said was not polite words, it was indeed a little understanding of the Kingdom of Dionysia.Although among the city-states and countries along the Mediterranean coast, the Egyptians are the most closed and old-fashioned, they prefer to take care of the land, rather than sailing for business, so today, many Egyptian officials may not know that there is one more Dionysian in the Mediterranean. kingdom.But Nektanib Pharaoh is different. Before becoming a pharaoh, he spent many years in the town of Sais, and Sais City is not far from Nauclatis City, so he has heard many trades in Nauclatis. Rumors about the Kingdom of Dionysia from Greek merchants.

"Honorable Pharaoh!" Ansitanos took Nektanibu's words and continued: "Although Dionia and Egypt are far apart, because of this, there has never been any relationship between the two countries. Conflicts of interest, on the contrary, can make up for each other's deficiencies, so King Davos hopes that Dionia will establish more friendly exchanges with the country you rule!