ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1090 Speech against Dionia

"Well said!" Ancitalos's loud admiration did not interrupt Plato's desire to continue telling: "Dear King Davos, you once criticized my views in "Utopia" and said, 'I only have city-states in my eyes. Citizens, but despise slaves and aliens', whether traveling in the south or north of Dionia this time, what I saw and heard shocked me a lot!

Romans, Phoenicians, Samnites, and even Volscians who are not citizens of Dionia are all trying to speak Greek (Dionysia), although most of them are still very blunt.I have also encountered several foreign children asking me questions... These all made me realize that even completely ignorant and backward indigenous people can be educated to have wisdom and love for Greek culture like us, and those who are both The Greeks who are illiterate but unwilling to make changes are the ones who really deserve our contempt! …”

Plato took another sip of wine and increased his voice again: "When I first met with you, the king, I once praised you as the real philosopher king. Now I find that this statement is not completely correct. This time, I Rome, Benetum, and Lily stayed for a while, carefully observing the governance of the towns under their jurisdiction by Dionysian officials. Although these towns have different situations and environments, one thing is The same - the Dionian officials there are performing their duties very seriously and responsibly, and they are all governing the towns under their jurisdiction in accordance with Dionian laws, and according to what I have observed, they are all governed well. Yes, administrative efficiency is very high...

I once said, 'When people are sick, they need to find professional doctors. When merchants want to transport goods by sea, they know how to find experienced captains. However, it is so difficult to govern a city-state, but it is so difficult for inexperienced but selfish people to do so. How can a city-state develop well if citizens of a self-interested city-state participate extensively?But that’s exactly what many Greek city-states did!

And as far as I know, the senior officials in various towns in Dionia are promoted through step-by-step experience. They have enough experience and wisdom to deal with and solve various problems encountered by the towns. This is what you used to Give me the 'selection of merit'.So, the original sentence I said needs to be changed, 'Not only is King Davos a real philosopher, but many of your officials are also philosophers. Onia will be as powerful as it is today! "

"Dear Plato scholar." Davos, who is in a high position, has heard too many compliments over the years and has become accustomed to it. However, he still let him be praised by a great man who was called the "Father of Western Philosophy" in his previous life. Feeling a little proud, he showed a pleasant smile on his face and tried his best to be humble and said: "Are you here today just to praise Dionia?"

"Since Dionia has done well, why not praise it!" Plato raised his glass and said loudly: "Come on, let us praise Dionia together!"

Davos smiled and raised his glass.

After finishing the drink with the others, Plato shook his head, as if to get rid of the drunkenness. He squeezed his face hard, and then said: "Dear King Davos, do you remember Aesop?" Crates?"

"Of course I remember." Davos said with a puzzled look on his face: "A famous orator and rhetorician in Athens, we invited him to speak at the first and second Greek Scholars Conference, but we invited him again later. At that time, he refused to come again. I once thought it was because we did not take good care of her during the previous reception, so he was dissatisfied."

"Your Majesty, although Isocrates is a rigorous person and doesn't like to talk much, he is not a person who likes to care about this aspect." Lysias, who has lived in Athens for many years and had close contacts with Isocrates, explained : "According to what I know, he also built a school in Athens and has been busy teaching students in the past few years. Therefore, he may not be able to spare time to come to Thurii to attend the conference."

"Oh, that's right, he also built a school." Davos looked at Plato with interest and asked, "Doesn't that compete with your academy?"

Plato said frankly: "Isocrates's school and I have different training goals. His school focuses more on teaching students how to use words and sentences, how to make speeches, how to better conduct public political life...it is more practical. And my Akademi is more focused on studying the political system of city-states and exploring how to build a more perfect country... But it is true that there is a certain competition between our two colleges. Just last year, he and I had a A debate.”

"Oh?" Davos looked surprised, but in fact he not only knew about the debate, but also kept a rough record of the debate in his mansion.

"This debate is also related to your Dionia." Plato said seriously: "I think one of the main reasons why Isocrates has not agreed to your invitation to attend the Scholars Conference in recent years is that he Think that the existence of the Kingdom of Dionia is a huge threat to the Greek mainland——"

"How is this possible?" Lysias was a little surprised, but before he could finish his words, he was picked up by Ansitanos: "For this, I can also prove that in the 14th year of the Kingdom (380 BC) , our war with Carthage has just begun. At the 99th Olympia Games, Isocrates delivered a speech "Dedication to the All-Greek Gathering". The main content was to call on the city-states in mainland Greece to stop the war and unite. Restore the glory gained by the Greek ancestors in the Greco-Persian War, complete their unfinished business, liberate the Greek compatriots in Asia Minor who were enslaved under Persian rule, and any Greeks who negotiate peace with Persia or even be bewitched by Persia to engage in civil war They should all be cursed...

But later in this speech, he also mentioned...well, that's what the original text said...

'Today we gather in Olympia to thank Zeus for his blessing to the Greeks, but we should be able to feel that compared with a few decades ago, this grand event has become much deserted, not only because of the war, but also because there are fewer city-states. participate.Tarantum, Crotone, Locri, Thurii, Syracuse, Agrigento...these colonial city-states in the Western Mediterranean, the vanity and shallowness their people showed at previous events It is true that we despise them, but without them at the event, we will feel lonely.They were originally members of our Greek family, but now they have become towns under the Kingdom of Deoria one by one.

Is Dionia a country of the Greeks?

They were never seen in the games of Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, and the Isthmian Games, and Delphi did not set up a holy treasury for them. This shows that the attitude of the priests who represent the wishes of the gods towards this western Mediterranean kingdom is not only because There are too many barbarian citizens in its country, especially because it distorts our understanding of gods!Dionia believes that Hades is the lord of the gods instead of Zeus. He also allows citizens to believe in the gods of foreigners. Can Dionia, who can do such terrible things, not be called a Greek country?Of course, it is impossible for the citizens of Dionia who are influenced by this misconception to become Greeks of the same faith as us!

But why don’t we protest against their wrong practices or even send troops to intervene?Because Dionia is very powerful, the powerful strength it has gathered through the annexation of many Greek colonial city-states can force Naples, which is still an independent city-state and has a relatively strong national power, to dare not participate in this grand event, just because it is afraid of Dionia. will be dissatisfied with it.

When we were instigated by the Persians and killed each other for our own interests, Dionia, which had annexed our sub-states and colonial cities in the Western Mediterranean, had swelled into a huge kingdom, although it has not so far It has not shown any malice towards us, but it is so different from us and so close to us, once a conflict occurs, the consequences will be serious!
O wise Greeks!To our east is the enemy Persia who never gave up wanting to enslave us, and to our west neighbor is a powerful kingdom that makes us unable to guess its mind. Our situation is so dangerous, shouldn't we abandon our prejudices , just like how we faced the invading Persian army decades ago, we must reunite to defend our homeland and regain the glory of our ancestors...'"

"Why didn't I know there was such a speech?!" Lysias was very surprised after hearing this.

"Because Thebes and Athens were already at war with Sparta at that time, both sides did not dare to offend Persia and us, so as not to cause changes in the war situation, so they both intentionally banned the popularity of this speech. This was issued by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs It took a lot of effort to obtain the manuscript when he brought the Greek mainland." Ansitanos explained: "It can be seen from this speech that Isocrates regarded our Dionia as a potential threat to the Greek mainland. .”

"Since your victory over Carthage, and starting last year, Isocrates has regarded Dionia as a real threat to the Greek mainland and to Athens. Not only has he often promoted his view to students, but he has also I gave a speech at the Citizens’ Assembly to remind the people. Since I first participated in the Greek Scholars Assembly, I have written many articles that positively discussed the political system of the Kingdom of Dionysia, and suggested that the Greek city-states headed by Athens can learn from it. Every time Many citizens of Athens, and even people from other city-states such as Thebes and Corinth, are scrambling to copy and circulate it..." Plato said seriously: "So Isocrates thinks that I am a supporter of the Kingdom of Dionia and must Only by refuting me in public can the citizens of Athens come to a unified understanding."

　The title of this chapter refers not only to Isocrates' speech, but also to Plato's praise of Dionia.

　　Thanks to yyaJy2304 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)