ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 259 Completion Celebration of Hades Temple ([-])
The bells stopped ringing, and Plessinas led the saints out of the crowd, stood on both sides of the temple entrance, and began to sing in unison.

This time, it's no longer just pure singing, but also lyrics: "

The god Hades is just and severe,

Your light shines on the earth,
We are full of enthusiasm,

Come to your temple,
Your light shines upon us,

......"

"This is... is this a new Hades hymn?!" The hearts of the people were full of surprise, the melody was different, but so beautiful and magnificent.As the singing continued, they were completely moved by the holiness and ideals expressed in the song.

Countless people knelt on the ground devoutly, silently chanting the Hades hymn in their mouths, with tears of excitement in their eyes...

When the song ended, some people could not leave for a long time, until the people around them cheered: "Davos!!!..." They discovered that at some point, Davos, the consul of Dionia and the high priest of the alliance, was wearing a white robe. The first white scarf, holding a torch in his hand, appeared on a circular altar in front of the temple, and Plessinas was beside him, carrying a large, smooth concave surface with another male priest. Bronze mirror.

The people opened their eyes curiously, because there were rumors before that the senators of the Senate had had a heated discussion about the "Holy Fire of the Temple of Hades".Because the holy fire is not only the spiritual source of the people of Greek city-states, but also represents the inheritance of civilization, especially these Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean. They are all colonial cities. The holy fire on the Acropolis cannot be lit by just finding a fire source. It has always been The colonial city builders took a little fire from the temple in the mother country and kept it until the temple was built in the new city. Then they used the fire to light the sacred fire and burn it from generation to generation to show their memory of their homeland and pass on the fire!

Therefore, the senators born in Thurii, headed by Polyxes, proposed to introduce fire again from Athens. They were strongly opposed by Antonius, Amyntas and others. The reason was: the old Thurii no longer existed, and the new one no longer existed. Thurii is not a state of Athens!
As for Cornerus' proposal to "light the fire from the Temple of Zeus in Amendolara", it was also opposed. The Thurii senators believed that the small city of Amendolara was not enough to represent the entire Dionysian Alliance.

The arguments between the parties were fierce, and finally Davos made the final decision: "Since Dionia is a newly built city-state alliance, there is no mother state, and the Temple of Hades is almost the only city-state guardian temple in the Mediterranean. Then I think there is Hades gave us the Holy Fire on the day of the temple celebration to show his favor for Dionia!”

These words were spread throughout the city that day, and soon spread throughout the entire league.Now, whether ordinary people, senators, or distinguished guests who have just received the news, they are curiously and excitedly looking at the unlit torch in the hands of the high priest, waiting for a miracle to happen, or looking forward to the biggest joke in Magna Graecia. .

Davos faced the entrance of the temple, half-kneeling on the altar with a solemn expression, holding a torch high in his hand.

Plesinas and the priest took a few steps back, struggled to lift the bronze mirror, slowly turned it, adjusted the angle, and focused the hot sunlight onto a cluster of papyrus confetti sticking out from the top of the torch...

The well-known hymn of Hades once again sung from the mouths of the saints, and the sound spread to the sky...

The bright sun at noon was scorching everyone, and the sweaty people were unaware of it. Their attention was always focused on the motionless Davos...

Time passed in a minute and a second.

The bronze mirror is dazzling, but the torch remains the same...

"You said Hades would give the Holy Fire. I think he is arrogant. Do you really think he can do anything?" Polluxes sneered in a low voice. The reason why what Davos said at the venue could spread so widely , so quickly, and he contributed a lot to it. He hopes to see Davos make a fool of himself at this moment, which will cause a great blow to the prestige of the young consul!
Burx nudged him with his hand, kindly reminding him to keep quiet.

Polluxes rolled his eyes back.Burkes was his good friend in the past, and now he is one of the strong supporters of Davos among the Turui senators in the Senate. If not for some reasons, Polluxes would not want to associate with him again.

Suddenly, he saw green smoke seeming to rise from the top of the torch. He thought he had seen it wrong and blinked hard.

One after another, exclamations came from all directions.

Soon, the green smoke turned into a small cluster of beating red and yellow flames, which quickly ignited the linen soaked in olive oil.

The flames are burning!
"Oh, Hades!!!" The people who witnessed this miracle cheered like a landslide and tsunami, and the whole hill seemed to be shaking.

Even the distinguished guests looked at each other with disbelief: Is Dionia really favored by Hades? !

Did Davos really get the favor of Hades? !The senators looked at Davos in front of them in awe, while Polluxes' body was trembling slightly. He seemed to see the majestic eyes of Hades looking directly at him coldly in the torch held high by Davos.

Davos secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had practiced several times before, and even chose a sunny day and used the square to perform, extending the lighting ceremony until noon, he still felt a little uneasy. After all, this was in front of tens of thousands of people. , if he messes up, his well-thought-out plan and the reputation of God's Favored One will be ruined!Fortunately, with the blessing of Hades, he succeeded!
Davos stood up slowly, held the torch high, and walked slowly for a week, enjoying the cheers of the people with a solemn expression like waves in a storm, pushing him to the top again and again...

Then, accompanied by the priests, he stepped into the temple and lit the dark bronze braziers in front of the statue of Hades one by one. From then on, the sacred fire of the Temple of Hades will last day and night, bless Dionia with prosperity.

When Davos walked out of the temple, a loud bugle sounded, accompanied by a low drum beat. Headed by three legion commanders, Capus, Drax, and Hieronymus, plus eight other captains, all dressed in military uniforms, Carrying three steles respectively, they came to the temple under the escort of 40 team leaders.

When most of the people looked at the three stone tablets one person tall in puzzlement, the words of the high priest were sent to the ears of the people with the help of the speaker: "The establishment and development of the Dionysian City-State Alliance, It is inseparable from the blessing of Hades! It is also inseparable from the efforts of the citizens! As we enjoy peace and prosperity today, please don’t forget the warriors who gave their lives to defend Dionia! Their names are all Engraved on these three steles, Hades admired their loyalty and bravery to the alliance, allowed their souls to enter the temple, turned into heroic spirits, continued to defend Dionia, and accepted the descendants and descendants of Dionia To pay homage and worship!" After saying that, Davos knelt down in front of the stone monument with a solemn expression.

Immediately afterwards, the legion commander, group captain, squad leader and all the soldiers present half-knelt on the ground facing the stone monument with solemn expressions.

In the eyes of the people, the stone tablet full of writings is no longer a cold stone, but a living figure with a name...

"Woooooooo..." In addition to the distinguished guests, the mountains and plains were full of kneeling Dionian people. In this solemn atmosphere, uncontrollable crying could be heard. Those crying were the family members of the soldiers who died in the battle. .

"The warrior never dies, but the heroic spirit lives on forever!"

"The warrior never dies, but the heroic spirit lives on forever!!!"

……

Davos led the people to kowtow to the stone tablet.

At this moment, the grass and trees were in love, and the heaven and earth were in grief. A strong wind blew at the right time, and even the sun was blocked by clouds, which made the people believe that their calls were answered.

For a time, people’s prayers continued for a long time...

Bugles and war drums played in unison, and the generals and team officers marched in neat steps, carrying the stone tablet into the temple under the gaze of thousands of eyes.

"The Dionysians respect warriors to such an extent!" Lysias had heard before that Dionysia held a triumphal ceremony for the returning army, and now he saw them sending the stone tablets of the dead in battle. Entering the temple, I couldn't help but be greatly moved.

"With such a sacred move, how can the citizens of Dionia not be willing to fight to the death!" Askamas, the commander of the Crotone navy who was standing aside, no longer felt ridiculed, and looked serious.

He and Lysias looked at each other, thinking about the same question: If there is another war with Dionia in the future, can Crotone defeat the Dionia with such high morale?
The distinguished guests from the South Italian League all felt this way more or less, and for Canios of Elia, the power of Dionia was exactly what he wanted to see.

After the drums and trumpets disappeared, the harp sounded again...

Amidst the melodious music of the piano, little Heraclides and Piatheix carried a stone bust to the front of the temple.

"People of Dionia, please tell me, who designed the new city of Thurii? Who led us to build it?" Davers asked loudly.

"...It's Heraclid." The reply was broken.

"Who designed and built the Temple of Hades?" Davos asked again.

"Heraclide!" The answer was much neater this time.

“Whether it is building a new city or a temple, who is always the first to come and the last to leave every day, even though he is seriously ill, he still devotes all his energy to his love for the city’s architecture, and ultimately devotes his life? "Davos asked loudly again: "Who is he?!"

"Heraclides!!!" The neat and powerful reply echoed across the hills.

"In view of Heraclides, the master architect's contribution to Dionia, his statue will be placed in the Temple of the Philosophers in the temple, and he will be favored by Hades to continue to use his talents to contribute to the Elysee Paradise! At the same time, in the years to come, as long as the people of Dionia make great contributions to the prosperity and development of Dionia, their statues will also be stationed in the temple and be admired by future generations, and their souls will be with the alliance. Save!" Due to the miracle of the Holy Fire, Davos was as if he was possessed by Hades at the moment, and his words were naturally more inspiring to the people.

Note: Regarding the plot of whether holding a concave bronze mirror to focus sunlight can ignite papyrus, I was a little unsure when I first started writing it.Later, I remembered the Roman siege of Syracuse a hundred years later in history. Archimedes designed many instruments to assist in defending the city. One of them was to have soldiers stand at the top of the city, holding hundreds of concave bronze mirrors to focus on the sunlight. The sails of the Roman warships anchored in the bay were set on fire.Sails can be set on fire, papyrus should be easier, and it's so close.

　Thanks to Li Shibin, Bubble Potato, and Yuyun Yushi for the rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)