ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 657 Holy Alliance and Oracle

Silsitas sighed: "The last time the envoy of Agesilaus came here to ask for the oracle, he also made a request to me, 'I hope that when the enemy city-states of Sparta come here to ask for the oracle, At this time, we can quietly tell the Spartans what they ask for..."

"That's not all." Patmos, who was in charge of managing the holy treasury, said angrily: "After Polybiadas left the temple, he went to my place for a walk. He said intentionally or unintentionally, ' This time their expedition to Northern Greece consumed a lot of supplies, and they also owed the wages of more than 1000 mercenaries in the team'..."

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

"Teach Sparta a lesson? It is now the overlord of Greece, and it has the support of the Persians. If it is angered, it will be even more detrimental to us at Delphi..." Patmos said with some worry.

At this time, the chief priest Sitarsis expressed what he had been thinking about for a long time: "Who said we were going to confront Sparta head-on! We can invite a powerful force to join the Holy Alliance to balance Sparta in the alliance. occupy an absolute advantage.”

The priests' eyes lit up.

Patmos thought for a while and said: "Who would be better to invite? Macedonia?"

"Macedonia!" Kabatas snorted: "The Spartans went on an expedition to northern Greece just to help Macedonia. It was too late for the Macedonians to be grateful to Sparta, so how could they fight against it! What's more, although the Macedonian territory is vast, it has Without enough strength, even the barbarians cannot be defeated, how can they possibly fight against the powerful Sparta!"

At this time, another priest, Kretimenes, said "Oh" and said hesitantly: "The only Greek force that can confront Sparta now is probably Dionia... Do we want to invite it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kabatas objected loudly: "No! No! Dionia is a barbaric kingdom, not a Greek force at all!"

"How could the Kingdom of Dionia be a barbaric country? At the All-Greek Scholars Conference held there last year and this year, many scholars went to Thurii, and they all praised the academic atmosphere there. What's more, Dionysius Thurii, Tarantum, Locri, Silitium, Crotone, Ligium, Catanai... these cities under the Asian Kingdom were famous Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean more than ten years ago. The Holy Treasury of Delphi contributed a lot of gold and silver..." Critimenes defended.

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

Critimenes sighed: "Everyone, it is no longer a few decades ago. Everything depends on the strength of the city-state. Traditions have been broken one by one. The covenant of the Holy Alliance also said, 'Destruction is not allowed. Any city-state in the alliance.' But do you think there are few examples of Sparta destroying Mantinia and Plataea? And Dionia is the most powerful Greek country in the Western Mediterranean, and probably the entire Greece. The most powerful force in the world, even the Spartans have taken the initiative to negotiate alliances in Turii many times. Only by inviting Dionia to join the alliance will the domineering Spartans be afraid and restrain their behavior. .”

Cratemenes' words made everyone think deeply.

Patmos said in embarrassment: "Even if we intend to invite Dionia to join the Holy Alliance, will Dionia agree? You must know that over the years, we have firmly opposed Dionia's participation in the competition just like Olympia, and because It never offered gold or silver to the Holy Treasury of Delphi, but secretly promoted the barbarism of Dionia, hoping that Greek free people would not immigrate to Dionia..."

The priests all looked a little unnatural, they had done these things before.

Kabatas complained: "Dionia highly respects Hades, which makes fewer and fewer Dionian people come to Delphi to seek the oracle... If this continues, I am afraid that the Greeks in the entire Western Mediterranean will Consider Delphi as nothing.”

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

At this time, the chief priest Silsitas said: "It seems that you have all decided that the Greek country to be invited is Dionia. As for the issue of the Temple of Hades, I don't think you need to worry. I have learned about Dionia. Although the Temple of Hades in Oonia is very important in the hearts of the people of Dionia, the Temple of Hades does not seem to attach great importance to divination and issuance of oracles, which is exactly what we at Delphi are good at. The field, and the only field!" Silsitas emphasized with emphasis.

He knew very well that the reason why Hades was able to develop so rapidly in Dionia must be the promotion of the powerful king who claimed to be the "descendant of Hades". Delphi should not be stupid enough to stroke other people's tiger beards. : "Delphi and the Temple of Hades do not conflict with each other. I think Delphi's centuries-old oracle tradition will make the Dionian people who encounter difficulties hope to get guidance from Apollo. And we can also provide guidance. Greek freedmen living in difficulty went 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 his joining. After all, we only have the right to make suggestions, not decisions!" Patmos reminded.

Silsitas sighed: "This is the issue I am most worried about. I heard that in the covenant signed between Dionia and Sparta, there is a treaty about 'Dionia shall not be involved in Eastern Mediterranean affairs' .Although this shows Sparta's fear of Dionia, it also proves that Spartans are wary of Dionia, and Sparta will definitely oppose Dionia's joining 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 to protect Delphi. I don't think Sparta will react so violently." Cretimene said with relief.

At this time, Silsitas came up with the idea he had already thought of: "My suggestion is...can we send people to Thurii quietly to discuss with the King of Dionysia and let them take the initiative to make demands to the Holy Alliance? , and we have privately contacted Athens, Corinth, Argos, Megara and other city-states that have rifts with Sparta, so as to put pressure on both sides, I believe Sparta must also consider it carefully..."

After listening to it, all the priests thought it was a good idea, and no one raised any objection, 'What if Dionia doesn't want to join the Holy Alliance? ', because in their opinion, Dionia must be overjoyed to be invited to Delphi, the holy land of the Greeks.

Patmos looked at Pythia, who had been concentrating with his eyes closed, and asked respectfully: "What does the oracle of Apollo say about this incident?"

For such an important matter, the oracle of Apollo must have been consulted in advance. If there was no hope of success, it would not have been brought up in a meeting of priests.

All eyes were on Pythia.The elderly woman dressed in girlish attire (this kind of attire is required by the Temple of Apollo, and she is a symbol of chastity) opened her cloudy eyes and chanted in her hoarse and low voice: "O scorching sun,
is draining its brilliance,

Falling beneath the mountains,
The dark night has fallen,
clusters of blazing bonfires,
Shine it like daylight,

......"

While the priests were thinking about the profound meaning of this oracle, Silsitas said: "Since Dionia regards Hades as the protector of the kingdom, and this god is the lord of darkness, I think Apollo The oracle is saying, 'The sun represented by Sparta is about to decline, and Dionia will replace it. As for those bonfires, I haven't figured it out yet, maybe it refers to another emerging force..."

Oracles are always as obscure as the gods themselves.Although it was difficult for the priests to understand for a while, it did not affect their execution of this matter, because it seemed that at least the general direction was right...

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

Last year's summer heat killed a Spartan king, Agesipolis.This summer is a huge test for Dionia.

In the Dionia Palace, King Daves, Minister of Commerce Mariji, Minister of Finance Melses, and the five rotating presidents of the Senate were all listening solemnly to the report of Minister of Agriculture Burkos.

"In fact, last year, there was less rain in spring and summer than before. But this year, from February to July now, there has been no rain in South Italy for more than five months, Lucani Asia, Apulia (this region includes Messape, Pucetti and Dauni), Magna Graecia, and Bruti are all facing severe water shortages, such as the Sisno and Saraceno rivers. These small rivers have basically exposed their riverbeds and turned into creeks. Large rivers such as the Crati River, Ramato River, and Neto River have also narrowed their river surfaces and dropped their water levels...

If it were not for the large-scale application of waterwheels, large areas of wheat seedlings might have died in the Subari Plain, Croton Plain, Euphemia Plain, and Cosenza Plateau. But if this drought continues for another month, I am afraid that by During the autumn harvest in September, the entire Southern Italy region will experience severe harvest failure.Judging from the current situation, the possibility of this bad situation happening is very high! …”

"It's not just a matter of grain harvest failure. This dry weather has lasted for so long, the pastures in the mountainous areas have also withered, and many livestock fed by herdsmen have died!" Weisba lamented.

"I remember that the last time there was a drought in southern Italy was 25 years ago. The weather has been good these years, and the kingdom and the people have benefited a lot. I am afraid that many people have not taken any precautions against this!" Lysias said with a solemn expression.

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(End of this chapter)