Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

After leaving the market, Tios saw that rows of stables had been erected by the roadside, and the shabby and messy scene full of horse manure had long since disappeared.

Theos had a good impression of the old coachman, so he wanted to ride in his car, and began to shout: Solikos! Solikos!  …

The old man is rich now, he doesn't drive by himself anymore, take my car! someone shouted.

Don't talk nonsense, be careful I'll beat you up! Thorikos scolded with a laugh when he heard the sound.

Theos got into his carriage and told where he was going.

Oh, you also went to see that piece of land for rent, right?! There have been a lot of people going to see it recently! Thorikos said immediately.

Theos nodded and smiled: I heard you made a fortune?!

Listen to their nonsense, that is, after paying off the loan and interest on the carriage, I took out a loan to buy a carriage and leased it to a freeman to drive it. I believe that the loan will be repaid soon! Then I will buy a carriage... Solix said confidently.

Congratulations! Theos praised: I think in another year, you can become a carriage dealer.

Solikos laughed when he heard that.

I remember that you are a citizen of Dionia. The alliance should give you a 'land share'. You go out to make money by driving a carriage. What about the land? I heard that your alliance has agricultural officers who specialize in supervising the use of land by citizens. situation. Theos asked curiously.

I've rented it to freemen to farm, and I won't have any problems, Solikos replied.

He drove a horse-drawn carriage to the Turii-Amendolara Avenue. The horse-drawn carriage ran on the plain of Shibari. On both sides of the road, there were thousands of streets and fields, and many houses had been built.

Soon it's time to build a village! Theos thought to himself: New Turii is developing very rapidly, and it has begun to gradually restore its former prosperity, and it is very different from the original, and will even surpass the great Greek power of the past!

After the carriage crossed a wooden bridge over the Subari River, it passed a grape plantation and a winemaking workshop, which is a famous wine producing area in Greater Greece.

After crossing the Saraceno River, you enter the territory of Amendolara. The land to be rented is on the side of the road, and it has been divided into pieces of land to be rented with sticks inserted one by one. It is close to the avenue, which is convenient for transportation; close to the river, it is convenient to provide water for the workshop; In addition, after completing the workshop on the leased land, you can also build a house for yourself and your hired employees to live in, so that you have a place to rest while doing business in Dionia. There is the sea in front, the forest in the back, the river on the side, and the avenue for easy travel. It is also an ideal place to live! I believe that every foreign businessman who wants to rent a land here has the idea of ​​building a workshop and a residence at the same time. Twenty years is enough for them to double the investment money and earn back, of course, the premise is that the Dionysian Union has always existed.

After Tios was optimistic about a few ideal plots, because the so-called auction would not be held until tomorrow, he wanted to find a hotel to stay first.

At this time, Solikos suggested: You happened to be here today, and the arena in Turii was just built yesterday. To celebrate, Lord Davos, the consul, announced, 'Today and tomorrow, there will be a four-city football match in the arena. !'. If you are free in the afternoon, you can just go and have a look. I heard that it is very beautiful, and it is even more lively than the Olympia Games!

A football game? Tios was both curious and puzzled.

That's a game invented by Lord Davos. I heard that it was inspired by Hades! Thorikos said mysteriously.

It's...that's...two teams compete for a ball made of cowhide shaped like an olive...well...and then score...Oh, I can't tell, anyway, people who have watched this game say it's very interesting , very beautiful! You will know when you see it.

Okay, I'll take a look. Thorikos's strong recommendation made Tios interested.

Go early in the afternoon,

Because there were so many people, I heard that it was late, so I couldn't get in! ' Solikos reminded kindly.

………………

The arena is located on the east side of the northern city of Turii, very close to the city pier, and far from the main city. It was built here with the consideration of not affecting the daily life of the people of Turii.

The city guards, who are usually strict in inspections, are relatively lax today. As long as they are not armed, after counting the number of people, they will basically let them in, but if the number of people exceeds the specified number, they will not be allowed to enter the city.

Tios was lucky enough to enter the city because he came early. On the way into the city, I also met Dikpolis, a Cretan businessman who is engaged in olive oil business. He also came to watch the rugby game, and after watching one in the morning, he was fascinated by this novel game. , in his words: This is the best gift Pluto gave to the Greeks, and no competition can match it!

This piqued Tios's interest even more.

When we came to the gate of the arena, there was already a long queue. Although there were many people, they still obeyed the order under the supervision of a team of soldiers.

At this time, Dickpolis asked Theos to occupy the seat, and he went to a nearby store with a beer sign, took out two cans of beer and two bags of dried fruit, and gave half of it to Theos.

Tios thanked him embarrassedly and asked, How much?

Dickpolis said: It's fate to meet you here and watch a football game together! If you pay, you don't like to make friends with us Cretans!

Theos had to accept it, and Dickpolis's forthright and lively made him quite fond of him. At the same time, he also noticed that many people went to buy beer, syrup and snacks.

Dickpolis told him: Because of the long game time, we watch the game in the sun, which makes us thirsty and hungry. In addition, there are a lot of spectators entering the stadium. If you want to pee, you can't find a place, and this one- — He raised the wine jug in his hand and said with a teasing smile: After drinking it, it can be used as a urinal...

The guards at the entrance of the arena released a group of people in, and another group of people in after a while. When it was Dickpolis and the others' turn, it was obvious that the arena was not full yet. The guard signaled that they could enter, and followed the passage on his right, and there was another passage on the left. They could not go. That leads to the VIP seats, which is how almost all arenas are designed.

Turii Arena is not too big, and all the stone benches on the side of the ring can seat about 4,000 people at most, but in fact, more than 4,500 people have entered the stadium, and half of them are free people and foreigners. Bang people. Like other arenas, it has a track on the inside and outside of the stadium, but the inside of the track is a flat rectangular sandy land divided into multiple areas by dozens of white lines.

Dickpolis patiently explained the rules of the game to Theos, and told him why it was called the Four Cities Rugby Rivalry: The Four Cities are Amendolara, Turii, Niutum and Laos, listen to my Dio Nia's friends say that the game was first played by Archon Davos as a military training program, starting with mercenaries who became citizens of Amendolara... Later Turii and Amendola Lara established an alliance to conduct military training for Turii citizens and reserve citizens, which naturally taught them this game... Later, they captured Niutum, and the first Lucanian soldiers took this game again. This game was handed over to the Lucanians in Niutum... As for Laos, they sent a lot of labor to build roads. The Dionias served as overseers, and taught the Laos to play in their spare time. This kind of game to prevent them from being too tired to slow down...

Maybe the Laotians just started to play, they are not proficient, and they don't seem to cooperate well, so when they played against Turui in the morning, they were easily won by Turui. This afternoon, it was Amendolara vs. Niutum. I heard that the strength of the two sides is not much different, so it is more interesting!

You know so much! Theos said with emotion.

I am interested in it, and naturally I want to know more about it. Diopolite said proudly: I have stayed here for a long time and have made friends with a few Dionian Union citizens, one of whom He also served as the sub-captain of their so-called legion, he told me...

Why not Castellon? A voice came from the side.

Dickpolis turned his head and saw that there were some people around them.

Maybe because they have less contact with the citizens of the alliance, they have no chance to learn... Dickpolis shrugged: However, I saw some Castellons watching the game at the venue this morning. I believe that after this time After the four-city competition, the next time it is held, it will probably become a five-city competition.

Cretans, you're right, we Castrons will definitely participate next year! Someone in the crowd shouted.

Yes, we will make suggestions to the council when we go back! Another person echoed.

Dickpolit winked at Theos and whispered, Look, I'm right.

At this time, the bronze horn rang, and the athletes began to enter the arena.

At this time, the players were not as rudimentary as when they first played football in the military camp. They all wore fluffy leather caps that covered the entire head and neck, and thickened wool and linen leather jackets. They were dyed red and blue to distinguish them, and strange symbols were embroidered on the back of the jackets (actually Arabic numerals, because the Greek numerals are complicated and difficult to use) for the judges to identify the players.

At the same time when the players from both sides entered the field, a strong and rhythmic drum sounded.

The red team immediately formed a neat phalanx, matched with the rhythm, and danced the dance that praised Ares when they were victorious on the battlefield with vigorous and uniform movements... The audience cheered enthusiastically.