I was a priest in the city-state era

The population of Egypt as a whole is approximately three million.

In other words, if the Athenian Empire annexed the Kingdom of Egypt, the total population would reach about five million, which would satisfy Roy's need to complete his posthumous deification in one year.

But Loy had no intention of stopping the expansion of the Athenian empire.

Because a population of five million only meets Loy's minimum needs.

In the process of becoming a god after the death of Loy, the Athenian Empire may be divided or weakened due to various reasons.

So to be on the safe side, Roy planned to increase the population of the Athenian Empire to tens of millions.

The Babylonian Kingdom in the Mesopotamia and the Hittite Kingdom in the Asia Minor Peninsula were both populous countries in this era. The Babylonian Kingdom had a population of about one million, and the Hittite Empire had a population of about two million.

As long as Roy conquered the Kingdom of Babylon and the Hittite Kingdom, he could increase the population of the Athenian Empire to about nine million.

By next autumn, when the Athenian Empire conquers the entire Balkan Peninsula and its population reaches tens of millions, Roy can kill himself and begin the first step of becoming a god after death.

"Dear Nafir! I will transfer war materials for you from the Athenian Empire and help you form cavalry and infantry using iron weapons. Once their training is completed, you can declare the Kingdom of Egypt to be merged into the Athenian Empire, and then wipe out all the various areas in southern Egypt. The rebellion of the city-states has completely ended the situation where for thousands of years, each city-state has only nominally surrendered to the Pharaoh. From now on, each city-state in Egypt will be directly controlled by us. Although the Kingdom of Egypt has become an Egyptian province, your authority as the Queen of Egypt remains. will be stronger than before.”

After hearing Roy's plan, Nafir nodded and said with a smile.

"My dear, how much help do you need from me if you want to conquer the Sinai Peninsula and Phoenicia?"

"I would like to borrow twenty thousand Egyptian soldiers from you."

The Sinai Peninsula covers an area of ​​about 60,000 square kilometers, and the Phoenician region on the eastern Mediterranean coast also covers an area of ​​about 40,000 square kilometers.

Roy wanted to conquer the Sinai Peninsula and Phoenicia with Aries's one thousand iron lancers and four thousand iron lancer infantry. Of course, there would be no problem.

But Roy wanted to use 5,000 soldiers to actually rule 100,000 square kilometers of land and hundreds of thousands of people. It was obviously impossible to rely on only 5,000 soldiers.

Moreover, after conquering the Phoenician region, the border of the Athenian Empire will be bordered by the borders of the Kingdom of Babylon and the Kingdom of Hittite.

In order to deal with the threats from these two kingdoms, Roy needed at least 100,000 soldiers here to promote his plan to conquer the Babylonian Kingdom and the Hittite Kingdom.

"Is 20,000 soldiers too few? I'll give you 50,000 soldiers!"

Roy shook his head without hesitation and said.

"Now we have turned the Hyksos, Phoenicians, and the Light Tribe into slaves. Half of your one hundred thousand soldiers must be divided to control them. After lending me 20,000 soldiers, you will only have 30,000 soldiers left. If you lend me these 30,000 soldiers, how will you train the new army and suppress the rebellions in the southern city-states? I hope you can merge the Kingdom of Egypt into the Athenian Empire within half a year, so you only need to lend me two soldiers. Ten thousand soldiers. After conquering the Sinai Peninsula and the Phoenician region, I will recruit new soldiers from the local area."

"Half a year..."

Nafir said in surprise.

"If you want to complete the merger of the Athens Empire with the Kingdom of Egypt within half a year, then I really can't lend you all my soldiers."

Roy and Nafir spent the night together at the palace in Itawui City.

the next day.

Roy took Aries's 1,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry, and 20,000 Egyptian soldiers and set out for the Sinai Peninsula.

The Sinai Peninsula covers an area of ​​61,000 square kilometers. Most of it is sand dunes, with a dry climate and lack of water. There are only a few plains along the Mediterranean coast and the Red Sea coast.

Although there are few animals and plants in the Sinai Peninsula, there are resources such as oil, coal, iron, and copper.

For Lowe, who understood the value of these resources, the Sinai Peninsula was undoubtedly a land of wealth.

Because of climate and water resources, the population of the Sinai Peninsula is concentrated on the Mediterranean coast in the north and the Red Sea coast in the west.

In addition to the Egyptians who have been farming here for generations, the Hyksos now rule here. The Phoenicians settled in the port cities of Rafah and Gaza City on the Mediterranean coast. The Bright people live a nomadic life here.

After Roy led 25,000 troops across the Isthmus of Suez and entered the Sinai Peninsula, Roy immediately divided the army into two and let Aries lead 2,000 Athenian soldiers and 10,000 Egyptian soldiers to conquer the Red Sea coast of the Sinai Peninsula. inhabitants, Loy conquered the inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast with three thousand Athenian soldiers and ten thousand Egyptian soldiers.

When Phineus was migrating with the Hyksos, he passed through the Sinai Peninsula. The Hyksos here were divided into two parts. The Hyksos who were unwilling to surrender had followed Phineus and left, and those who stayed were naturally willing Surrendered.

The Egyptians in the Sinai Peninsula were even less likely to resist the soldiers of the Kingdom of Egypt.

The Phoenicians have long been accustomed to being conquered by various foreign groups. The strength of the Light Clan is not even as good as the Phoenicians, and they are not even qualified to resist.

The army led by Roy and Aries encountered almost no resistance and successfully conquered the entire Sinai Peninsula.

After taking control of the cities of Rafah, Gaza, and Shalu in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, Roy was not in a hurry to enter the Phoenician region, but first implemented the policies of the Athenian Empire in the Sinai Peninsula.

After Aries conquered the cities of Serabit, Chardim, and Timna in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, they also implemented the policies of the Athenian Empire in accordance with Loy's requirements.

There are six city-states in the Sinai Peninsula with a population of about 200,000 people.

After completing the distribution of land here, Roy and Aries recruited 20,000 soldiers here.

After reorganizing the 20,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula and the 20,000 Egyptian soldiers, Roy asked Aries to stay in the Sinai Peninsula with 20,000 soldiers to maintain rule, and Roy himself took 25,000 soldiers into the Phoenician region.

The Phoenician region along the Mediterranean coast was inhabited 5,000 years ago BC.

These ancient tribes established strongholds that were easy to defend and difficult to attack by the sea and lived a life relying on the sea.

3,000 years ago BC, influenced by the invasion of ancient Aryans, the Pelasgians who worshipped the goddess of the earth migrated to the Balkan Peninsula, and the Canaanites who worshipped the goddess Aphrodite migrated to the Phoenician region and assimilated the local residents.

Perhaps 3,000 years ago BC, the goddess of the earth worshipped by the Pelasgians and the goddess Aphrodite worshipped by the Phoenicians originally had the same origin.

However, in the long history, the Pelasgians migrated to Greece and continued to live as agricultural people, so the goddess worshipped by the Pelasgians retained the attributes of the earth goddess.

It was not until 2,000 years ago that the Pelasgians began to build coastal city-states such as Corinth and Athens, and the earth goddess worshipped by the Pelasgians split into the sea goddesses Amphitrite and Metis.

After the Phoenicians brought the goddess Aphrodite to the Phoenician region, the ocean became the main way for the Phoenicians to make a living, so the goddess Aphrodite became the sky goddess and the patron saint of navigation who could soar across the sky and the ocean.