Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 1262

[Chapter 211 A Different Race (1)]

The bronze round basin on the altar has been filled with olive oil, and the torch touches it, which immediately ignites a raging flame, sending a heat wave to the surrounding.

In the cheers of the audience, Max seemed to see the familiar faces through the scorching fire. They smiled at him one by one and shouted loudly and powerfully: “Yes, Captain!” Under his leadership, he shouted the name of Hades and killed the fleeing enemy…

Two lines of hot tears rolled down Max’s cheeks.

With the help of the two teenagers, Max walked to the exit of the arena, his mood recovered, and he hurriedly thanked the two teenagers.

However, a teenager waved his hand and said, “Uncle, don’t thank me! My name is Christopher, and Clotokatax is my father.”

And another teenager said: “I… my name is Enon, and Adoris is my father!”

“Lord Commander?!…Captain?!…” Maxton was stunned for a while, as if there was some providence, and once again brought his thoughts back to that bloody battle.

In a turbulent mood, he hugged the two teenagers and cried loudly…

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At this time, in the arena, the head of the referee panel, Karsidis, passed through the athletes and came to the front of the altar. Facing the scrutiny of the athletes, he solemnly said loudly: “Gods are above, I, Carl Sidis, as a referee of this Games, is willing to swear to you in front of thousands of spectators that he will always treat every athlete fairly and fairly in the Games, and preside over every competitive event in strict accordance with the rules of the Games. , handle every dispute seriously and responsibly… If you violate your oath, please punish!”

As soon as he finished speaking, more than 200 priests from the entire jury began to swear in unison, and the voices gathered by more than 200 people could basically be heard by the audience in the nearby stands.

Many spectators from the Greek city-state were stunned after hearing the oath. Although the Dionysian Games had the same oath as the previous Greek games, there were obvious differences: first of all, whether it was the Olympia Games or the Pythia Games , the Corinthian Games, the Nemea Games… They all swear to a main god, how can I swear to the gods like now, this seems to be a little tricky, when something really goes wrong, which god comes What about God’s punishment?

Secondly, athletes swore oaths in all sports games, and priests as referees did not need to swear, because they were the spokespersons of gods in the world and were respected. Cases of city-state bribery and blatant tampering with the results of the game have occurred from time to time.

In the Dionysian Games, the priests took the lead in taking the oath, which showed that the Kingdom of Dionia attached great importance to the Games and was determined to rectify the cheating phenomenon in the Games.

Thirdly, in the past sports games, the athletes swore oaths to the statues in the temple under the guidance of priests, which was relatively private compared to the audience.

This time, the Games were sworn in the center of the arena, and the oath clearly mentioned that “the audience outside the stadium should be the witnesses”, which is more pleasing to the people. After all, the punishment of the gods is illusory, and the people The anger can be expressed directly.

In any case, the Dionysian Games’ novel swearing method succeeded in generating a lively discussion among the audience.

At this time, the representative of the athletes from Turiyi once again led all the athletes to solemnly swear together with a similar oath. The powerful voice formed by thousands of people spread throughout the entire venue, causing a greater sensation.

Amid the heated discussions from the audience, the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games finally came to an end, and the team of referees and athletes began to leave the venue in order.

In this regard, most of the audience felt unsatisfied. Even the most critical representatives of Olympia, Delphi and Corinth believed that the games of their city-state were more sacred, but they had to admit that the opening ceremony of their games was too short and not lively enough. , is too private,

Far less than the opening ceremony of the Dionysian Games, it attracted the attention of the shallow audience.

“Your Majesty, as you said in your invitation letter before, the opening ceremony of this Games is indeed grand and innovative. It opened my eyes, and I feel like I haven’t seen enough!” Plato sincerely praised.

Xenophon wanted to say something to refute, but after all, he didn’t say it.

Davers laughed and said: “This opening ceremony has been going on for several hours, and it is now noon. According to the habits of the Dionysians, it is time for lunch. It doesn’t matter if you don’t see enough, the good ones are still to come. We had lunch and continued to watch the next game.”

On the first day of the Dionysian Games, not only the opening ceremony was arranged, but also the 100-meter race.

This is Davos’ proposal. He is going to use this set of punches to clearly tell those who are full of doubts about whether the Dionysian Games can be done well: The Dionysian Games not only has a beautiful opening ceremony, but also has a very good game. Wonderful!

“Thereby arousing the enthusiasm of all the national and foreign people in Turiyi to watch the Games.

During lunch, Xenophon raised his doubts in his heart: “Davers, when I entered the arena, I saw the notice you posted on the wall at the entrance. In addition to this opening ceremony, there will be hundreds of other events in the future. In the meter qualifiers, does the 100 meters refer to 100 meters? Did your Dionysian sports change the distance of the running competition in the Greek traditional games?”

The weights and measures implemented by the Kingdom of Dionia at the beginning of its founding were very different from other city-states in Greece. More refined and easier to operate, it was gradually accepted by foreign merchants, and when the Greek alliance was established and Dionia became the overlord of the entire Greece, in the past few years, Dionia’s weights and measures have gradually replaced the Greek city-state comparison. Confusion of traditional weights and measures… So Xenophon and Plato were familiar with the concept of “meter”.

Davos took a sip of the cold water and explained calmly: “The research at Dionia Academy has proved that the distance that we humans can sprint with all our strength is about 100 meters, and as the distance increases Gradually, endurance replaces explosiveness, so the 100-meter race is a test of the speed limit we can achieve as adults in a full sprint.”

“So, the shortest distance of running competitions in the previous games (about 192 meters) was… a test to demonstrate the physical endurance of athletes to maintain this high speed after sprinting with all their strength?” Plato pondered.

“That’s right.” Davos nodded and responded: “The 200-meter race in the Dionysian Games and the shortest-distance running race in previous sports games are all for this purpose, while the meter race is more focused on endurance tests— ”

“What about the marathon?” Xenophon interrupted him and asked, “Is it a complete test of adult speed endurance? Davos, how did you think of using it as a race event?”

Although Xenophon and Plato are not interested in the current Athenian government, they are all Athenians after all, and they are also proud of the glorious history of Athens. Davos knows this, so he solemnly said: “The Battle of Marathon It is of great significance to all Greeks, and playing the game in its name will undoubtedly make the Greek people, and even the entire Mediterranean people, cherish the memory of that part of history that has gone away for a long time.

As far as the competition itself is concerned, the marathon running is not only a test of the maximum endurance of the runners, but also a test of their willpower. Not to mention winning the championship, it is not an easy task to persist in running the entire distance.

”

“Yeah, even the Scud Fiddy Pitts of that year, under the spirit of winning the battle, ran the entire distance without stopping, but he was exhausted in the end, so you can see the marathon. It’s a very dangerous project!” Xenophon said with a dignified expression.

“But even so, there are still a lot of Athenians signing up for this event, and they obviously want to bring the glory of marathon champions back to Athens,” Plato said.

“Then they will face the competition of the best long-distance runners in Dionia.” Davos smiled and said seriously: “However, don’t worry too much, we have considered the danger of this competition, and specially designed the whole Medical staff are equipped along the way of the marathon. Once any abnormality is found, they will be rescued immediately. Moreover, we have also made special regulations for this competition. The runners participating in this competition should do what they can, and when they are in poor physical condition, Allow him to retire halfway…”

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While Davos and his two friends were chatting about the Games in the royal stand, the audience was not idle.

The Dionysians have watched ball games for many years and are very experienced. Knowing that they will be in the arena for a day, most of them have brought their lunches in advance, and now they have eaten with their families in their seats.

Although the foreign audience did not have the habit of eating lunch, they cheered and applauded non-stop this morning, which was also very exhausting. When they saw the Dionysian audience next to them all chewing their food, they all felt hungry.

At this moment, many hawkers appeared in the passage between the auditoriums in time, selling bread, salted fish, cured meat, dried fruit, and syrup to them… and they were all sold out quickly.

While eating, the audience excitedly talked about the opening ceremony just now, while watching the scene on the field curiously, guessing how the next game will be played.