Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 1252

[Chapter 201 Cretan players participating in the Games]

“By the way, what has happened to Ptolemy, the Macedonian regent who married Amyntas’ widow (Alexander, Padiccas, Phili’s stepmother) recently?”

“Your Majesty, I’m just about to report to you. The spies in Egai found that over the past six months, merchants from Asia Minor have come and gone from Ptolemy’s mansion from time to time.”

“Businessmen in Asia Minor…” Davos asked thoughtfully, “Are you saying that Ptolemy may have colluded with Persia?”

Aristillas said cautiously: “For fear of causing Ptolemy’s vigilance, the Intelligence Department did not conduct further detailed investigations on the merchant in Asia Minor. However, the relationship between Padiccas and Ptolemy during this period was very close. Nervous, Padiccas once publicly accused Ptolemy of taking too much power because he wanted to be king, and Ptolemy also publicly retorted, ‘Paldicus is naive, rewards and punishments are unfair, without his supervision, Macedonia would not be know what the mess is like’…

It is reported that when Phili sneaked to Turii, Padiccas once suspected that his younger brother was being held hostage by Ptolemy, and even sent a guard to the door to inquire.

I think if it weren’t for the protection of our Dionia, the mighty Ptolemy might have rebelled.

”

“You’re right. A few years ago, after our army helped Macedonia to quell the rebels, the intelligence department found evidence of Ptolemy’s collusion with the rebels, which shows that he had long been ambitious for the Macedonian throne, but Because he was afraid of our Dionysus, he had been holding back. Now he dares to conflict with Padiccas, and is no longer afraid of our Dionysian interference. Who gave him the courage? It could only be Persia!” Davos After speaking with certainty, he reminded again: “But your intelligence department only needs to send someone to monitor him, and you don’t need to worry about the rest.”

Davos said this, but he was thinking: If the kingdom’s only strong enemy and potential hidden danger can be solved at the same time, wouldn’t it be good!

“Yes…” After Aristillas responded, he still had no intention of leaving. Davos couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have anything else to do?”

Aristillas hesitated for a moment, then said softly, “Your Majesty…I have a request!”

“You said.” Davers was very curious: the intelligence director, who has always been cautious in his words and deeds, seldom asked him.

“Your Majesty, since I worked for you, I have never left Turii! This time I hope to follow you on an expedition to Persia!” Aristillas said earnestly.

Davos looked at him and was silent for a while. He didn’t know if the main purpose of Aristillas’ request was to resign as the director of the Intelligence Department in disguise, especially since he had just rejected his resignation.

“Your Majesty, this is a little bit of my selfishness. If I can follow you and share a little bit of the glory of conquering Persia, a powerful country in the east, I will be able to say it proudly in the face of inquiries from my descendants in the future. And I can go to Persia more conveniently and quickly. Personnel from the Intelligence Department, spying on Persian intelligence and disrupting its domestic order…”

Aristillas said again with a sincere expression: “You don’t have to worry about domestic security. In fact, I have basically left my hands for more than half a year. The specific affairs of the intelligence department are under the specific responsibility of the deputy director Tratus. With the full assistance of Secretary Maximus, the work efficiency of the Intelligence Department will only be stronger than before!”

Davos stared at him, and suddenly laughed: “Good you Aristillas, it’s rare to see you say so much in your heart! In order to go out and relax, you don’t hesitate to demean yourself! You have achieved this point, I Can you disagree? But during the time of the games, you have to arrange the affairs of the Intelligence Department, oh, and… After the plan of expedition to Persia is made public to the public, you have to admit to Azuna, It’s you who want to go, not my request, hahaha…”

Looking at the back of Aristillas leaving, Davos pondered: it seems that Aristillas has already seen his intention to replace the old minister and pave the way for Clotokatax.

If he agrees to go to Persia, then the important department of the kingdom has basically been taken over by a young and powerful minister… oh,

There is also a Sedorum who is always in love with the stack. It seems that I have to find a suitable person to wake him up at the right time…

………………………………………………

Perhaps because most of the inhabitants of Crete are immigrants from Laconia, the city-states on Crete are somewhat similar to the Spartan government. For example, they all have councils of elders and citizens’ assemblies. There is a system of ombudsmen, and boys in the city-state of Crete are taught from an early age (mainly military training) …

Of course, due to the small terrain of Crete, the lack of materials, and the failure to unify Laconia like Sparta, although the city-states have established alliances, they still maintain their own independence, so they do not have enough financial and material resources to develop major cities. Infantry, but according to the actual situation of the island, focus on training archers.

After the Greek War broke out 5 years ago and Sparta was conquered by Dionia, the city-states of Crete who received the news were shocked, and a few months later, when Dionia’s huge fleet circled Crete When sailing off the coast of the island, the council of elders of the city-states of Crete quickly made a decision: to join the new Greek alliance and surrender to Dionia.

After the establishment of the New Greek Alliance, the Greek mainland has finally recovered peace and tranquility in the past few years, and the citizens of Crete have never been recruited by the city-state and have been involved in the war in the Greek mainland. Many Cretan citizens still hold Dionia in their hearts. grateful.

The year before last, King Dionia announced that “a grand sports meeting will be held” and sent an invitation to the city-states and countries in the Mediterranean. When the city-states of Crete also received invitation letters, the Cretans were pleasantly surprised to discover Among the events listed in the letter was archery.

In the past, the Cretans also participated in the games held in Greece, but more of them were played by the children of nobles, because their wealthy families could provide enough money to allow them to receive professional training in public gymnasiums, and the level of competition among the commoners was obvious. It is far from them, but this time, archery is a skill that the commoners of Crete are good at.

Since Dioria only gave Crete city-states a total of 5 archery entries, the Crete Union also held a grand archery competition, and finally selected 5 players with the best results. The players who participated in other events formed a Crete team and went to Turii by boat in early June. Because this time the games will implement some new rules, they need to get used to it first.

Mecca Kiddes, a 20-year-old civilian from the city of Heraklion in Crete, won the championship in this Crete-wide archery competition, and the people of Crete hugged him. There are great expectations, and he himself is full of confidence.

But when he arrived in Turii and began to adapt to the venue, he found out that the target used in the archery competition at the Dionysian Games was not a human head target, but a novel circular target. The closer the hit is to the center of the target, the higher the score, which requires players who want to win the championship to further improve their archery accuracy.

At the beginning of the practice, McGawkids’ score was not high, and he was a little flustered, but with the continuous practice of these 20 days, he has begun to adapt.

At this moment, he drew an arrow from the quiver, put it on the string of the bow, hooked the string with the two fingers of his right hand, and slowly pulled it back. At the same time, he held the bow straight with his left hand and raised it slowly. Target, until the bowstring was half full, his arms were motionless, and his breathing was steady, he unconsciously released his fingers and the arrow flew out.

“Nine Rings!” The target reporter shouted from the front.

McGawkids shook his head slightly dissatisfied, and rubbed his right arm, which was a little sore, with his left hand.

“This time, the three arrows shot a total of 26 rings. After four rounds of shooting, it is already very good to have such training results!”

Hearing the compliments from the target reporter, McGawkids was not happy. He unconsciously turned his head to look at the contestants who were training hard on other target positions.

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Originally, he participated in this sports meeting with the mentality that he was bound to win. As a result, during these days of practice, he learned that many archery athletes are very good at archery, and most of them are from Dai. Regions of Onia.

As far as he knows, these Dionysian players have also participated in military training since they were young. Teenagers who perform well in archery will have special teachers to help them strengthen their training in this area. They conduct archery tests, and the best performers will be given priority to be selected into the light infantry brigade, and those who are close to become members of the reserve team, and then continue to undergo military training year after year, day after day, and sometimes rush to the army with the regiment. Battlefield, take part in battle…

He once asked a contestant from the East and West Sili regions of Dioria, and the contestant told him: the East and West Sili regions had held archery trials two months ago. Since there is no age limit for archery competitions, the number of people who signed up for the competition was limited. There were more than 5,000 people, and the entire selection process lasted for 10 days, and finally three players were selected through a play-off (there are only three archery places in each area of Dionia)…

The number of people participating in archery trials in one area of Dionia exceeds that of Crete, and there are dozens of areas in Dionia. The contestants selected from such a large number of people are naturally outstanding. They are training. The performance on the field also really made McGar-Kids feel the pressure.

“One more round!” he said solemnly.

The target reporter did not hand him the arrow, but looked up at the sky, and then persuaded warmly: “You have already shot five rounds, and if you continue to practice, it is easy to strain your arm, and then you will not be able to participate in the competition. Besides, the sports meeting will be held tomorrow, go back early and have a good rest, and tomorrow you will have the energy to attend the ceremony held by the kingdom for the sports meeting…”