ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1261 A Different Race ([-])

The bronze round basin on the altar has been filled with olive oil. When the torch comes in contact with it, it immediately ignites a blazing flame and sends heat waves around.

Amid the cheers of the audience, Max seemed to see familiar faces through the hot firelight. They all smiled at him and shouted loudly and powerfully: "Yes, Captain!" Then in Under his leadership, he shouted the name of Hades and killed the fleeing enemies...

Two lines of hot tears rolled down Max's cheeks.

With the support of the two teenagers, Max walked to the exit of the arena. His mood recovered and he hurriedly thanked the two teenagers.

But I heard a young man wave his hand and say: "Uncle, you're welcome! My name is Christod, and Clotokatax is my father."

Another young man then said: "I...my name is Enon, and Adoris is my father!"

"Commander?!...Captain?!..." Max was stunned for a moment, as if some divine will brought his thoughts back to that bloody battle.With his emotions surging rapidly, he hugged the two teenagers and cried loudly...

..................................................................

At this time, in the arena, the head of the referee team, Karlsidis, passed through the team of athletes and came to the front of the altar. Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the athletes, he solemnly said loudly: "Gods above, I, Karl Sidis, as a referee of this Games, is willing to swear to you in front of thousands of spectators that we will always treat every athlete fairly and fairly in the Games, and preside over every competitive event strictly in accordance with the rules of the Games. , handle every dispute seriously and responsibly...If you violate your oath, please punish me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than 200 priests from the entire referee team began to take the oath in unison. The voices of more than 200 people gathered together could be heard clearly by the spectators in the nearby stands.

Many spectators from Greek city-states were stunned after hearing the oath. Although the Dionysian Games had the same oath-taking part as previous Greek games, there were obvious differences: First of all, whether it was the Olympian Games or the Pythian Games, , Corinth Games, Nemean Games... they all swore in front of a main god. How could they swear to all the gods like now? This seems to be a bit of a joke. When the problem really arises, which god will do it? What about divine punishment?
Secondly, in all previous sports games, athletes have sworn, and the priests who serve as referees do not need to swear, because they are the spokespersons of the gods in the world and are respected by people. How can they engage in cheating in sports games? But in fact, the priests are used by athletes and even Instances of city-state bribery and blatant tampering with game results occurred from time to time.However, the priests took the lead in swearing an oath at the Dionysian Games, which showed that the Kingdom of Dionysius attached great importance to this Games and was determined to combat cheating at the Games.

Thirdly, in previous sports games, athletes swore in front of the statues in temples under the guidance of priests, which was relatively private compared to the audience.But this time the oath was sworn in the center of the arena, and the oath clearly mentioned that "the audience outside the stadium should be witnesses", which was more pleasing to the people. After all, the punishment of the gods was illusory, and the people The anger can be expressed directly.

In any case, the novel swearing method of the Dionysian Games successfully aroused heated discussion among the audience.

At this time, the athlete representative of Turiyi once again led all the athletes to solemnly swear together with a similar oath. The powerful voice of thousands of people spread throughout the entire venue, causing an even greater sensation.

Amid the heated discussion of the audience, the opening ceremony of the Dionia Games finally came to an end, and the referee team and the athlete team began to leave the field in order.

Most of the audience felt unsatisfied with this. Even the most picky representatives of Olympia, Delphi, and Corinth, although they believed that the games in their city-states were more sacred, had to admit that the opening ceremony of their games was too short and not lively enough. , and too private, far less attractive than the opening ceremony of the Dionia Games to attract the attention of shallow audiences.

"Your Majesty the King, just as you said in your invitation letter before, the opening ceremony of this Games is indeed grand and novel. It opened my eyes and I feel like I haven't seen enough yet!" Plato praised sincerely.

Xenophon wanted to refute, but he didn't say it after all.

Davos laughed and said: "This opening ceremony has been going on for several hours, and it is now noon. According to the habits of the Dionians, it is time for lunch. It doesn't matter if you haven't seen enough, the good things are still to come. We had lunch and continued watching the next game.”

The Dionysian Games not only arranged the opening ceremony on the first day, but also had a 1-meter race afterwards.

This is Davos's suggestion. He plans to use this set of punches to clearly tell those who are doubtful about whether the Dionysian Games can be successfully held: Not only is the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games beautiful, but the competition is also very exciting. Wonderful! "Thus stimulating the enthusiasm of all native and foreign people in Thurii to watch the games.

While eating lunch, Xenophon raised his doubts: "Davos, when I entered the arena, I saw the notice you posted on the wall of the entrance. In addition to this opening ceremony, there will be hundreds of ceremonies held next. Meter qualifying, does this 100 meters refer to [-] meters? Did your Dionysian movement also change the distance of the running competition in the traditional Greek games? "

The weights and measures implemented by the Kingdom of Dionia when it was first founded were very different from other Greek city-states. As the country's strength became stronger, trade exchanges with other city-states became increasingly frequent. Dionia's weights and measures were more systematic and More sophisticated and easier to operate, they were gradually accepted by foreign merchants. When the Greek Alliance was established and Dionia became the overlord of the entire Greece, in the past few years, Dionia's weights and measures have gradually replaced the Greek city-states. Confusing traditional weights and measures... So Xenophon and Plato were familiar with the concept of "meter".

Davos took a sip of cold syrup and explained calmly: "Research at Dionia Academy has proven that the distance that we humans can sprint with all our strength is about a hundred meters, and as the distance increases, Gradually, endurance will replace explosive power, so the [-]-meter race is a test of the speed limit that we adults can achieve under full sprint."

"In this way, the shortest distance (approximately 192 meters) in running competitions in previous sports games was... a test to show the athletes' physical endurance to maintain such high speed after sprinting with all their strength?" Plato thought thoughtfully.

"That's right." Davos nodded in response: "The 200-meter race in the Dionia Games and the shortest running competition in previous games are all to achieve this goal, while the 400-meter and 800-meter races focus more on endurance. The test——"

"What about the marathon?" Xenophon interrupted him and asked: "Is it designed to completely test the speed endurance of adults? Davos, how did you originally think of using it as a competition event?"

Although Xenophon and Plato are not interested in the current Athenian government, they are all Athenians after all, and they are also proud of Athens' glorious history. Davos knew this very well, so he solemnly said: "The Battle of Marathon" It is of great significance to all Greeks. Playing games in its name will undoubtedly make the Greek people, and even the people of the entire Mediterranean, remember that long-gone history.

As far as the competition itself is concerned, marathon running is not only a test of the maximum endurance of the athletes, it is also a test of their willpower. Let alone winning the championship, being able to run the entire distance is not an easy task. "

"Yes, even the Scud Pheidippitz, in the spirit of winning the battle, ran the entire distance without stopping, but he was exhausted in the end. It can be seen that marathon is a very dangerous event. !" Xenophon said with a serious face.

"But even so, there are still many Athenians who have signed up to participate in this event. They obviously want to bring the glory of the marathon championship back to Athens." Plato said.

"Then they will face the competition of the best long-distance runners in Dionia." Daves smiled and said seriously: "However, don't worry too much. Medical staff are deployed along the marathon, and if any abnormalities are found, they will be rescued immediately. Moreover, we have also made special regulations for this competition. Participants in this competition must do what they can. When the physical condition is not good, Allow him to withdraw from the competition midway..."

..................................................................

When Davos and two friends were chatting about the sports meeting in the royal stand, the audience was not idle.The Dionians have been watching ball games for many years and are very experienced. Knowing that they will stay in the arena for a whole day today, most of them have brought lunch in advance and are already dining at their seats with their families.

Although the foreign audience did not have the habit of eating lunch, they cheered and applauded non-stop this morning and consumed a lot of money. When they saw the Dionian audience next to them chewing food, they all felt hungry.At this moment, many vendors appeared in the passage between the auditoriums in time, selling bread, salted fish, cured meat, dried fruits, syrup... and they were all sold out quickly.

While eating, the audience excitedly talked about the opening ceremony just now, while watching the scene in the stadium curiously, guessing how the next game would go.

(End of this chapter)