Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1056: Quarrying

Meanwhile, another group of slaves quickly wrapped the stone block in straw and bound it with ropes. This protected the stone from damage during transport and kept its rough edges from scratching the workers.

The ropes were divided into two sets. Once tied around the block's middle, over a dozen slaves on the ground hauled outward on one end. Ten more stood atop the rock face, holding the other end taut to control the descent. Several others wedged wooden crowbars beneath the block, slowly prying it forward until it rolled at a steady, safe pace onto a row of waiting logs.

The slaves finally erupted into cheers. Their team had successfully extracted the first block in a short time, all without a single accident.

The massive rectangular block settled securely onto six or seven evenly spaced logs. Several slaves stepped up to re-secure the ropes around it. Once it was bound tight, twelve men heaved on the ropes, hauling the block forward while four others continuously scrambled to grab the exposed logs from the rear and cycle them to the front.

Gliding over the rolling logs, the heavy block was pulled with relative ease toward the storage yard near the quarry entrance.

Notified of their success, a foreman came over to inspect the stone. Confirming it met the standard, he marked it down on the wooden ledger he carried.

Maximus's crew cheered once more, drawing envious glances from the other teams. Extracting their first block this quickly and flawlessly meant they were highly likely to exceed their daily quota again and earn a reward.

Maximus remained perfectly calm. He ordered the rest of the slaves—those who hadn't exerted much effort yet—to start hammering wooden wedges into the pre-cut grooves of a second rock face, while urging the returning haulers to catch their breath and recover their strength.

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

The men shaping the stone here were not kingdom slaves, but Aristagoras's private property. These slaves possessed extensive stone-working experience—a skilled workforce Aristagoras had accumulated over his ten-plus years in the industry.

Unlike metal ores, raw stone blocks were rarely sold directly to buyers. Instead, quarry owners provided roughly shaped pieces according to the buyer's specifications. For instance, the artisans rebuilding the Main Temple of Hades had stationed an assistant at the quarry. Just like any other day, he arrived right after dawn, factoring in the temple's construction progress to specify exactly which shapes and quantities of stone the quarry needed to deliver.

The temple construction required three main types of shaped stone: square blocks for the walls, cylindrical blocks for the structural columns, and thinner slabs to pave the floors.

Over a hundred slave artisans worked here, wielding iron tongs, chisels, drills, and wire to carefully shape the extracted blocks. They wore linen clothing, masks, and headscarves. Chipping rock with metal tools sent sharp stone shards flying, and this gear protected them from injury. In stark contrast, the kingdom slaves who mined the rock wore nothing but loincloths. Because they rarely used metal tools, they had no need to worry about flying shrapnel. Working bare-skinned also kept them unencumbered, making it easier to move and exert their full strength. Their primary danger was sudden rockfalls.

Among the required shapes, slicing the solid blocks into thin slabs seemed the most daunting. Unlike limestone, marble was quite hard, making it difficult for the tools of this era to cut.

However, the Greeks, with centuries of experience working marble, had long ago devised a clever method. They would draw a cutting line across the block, chisel a shallow groove along it, fill the trench with dry sea sand, and lay a wire on top. Slave artisans would grip both ends of the wire and saw it back and forth along the groove. The wire pressed down on the sand, and the coarse sand itself acted as the true cutting agent, grinding through the rock via constant friction. As the groove deepened, they poured in more sand until the block finally split apart into slabs.

The finished square and cylindrical blocks were left slightly larger than the final dimensions needed for the temple. The slave artisans also deliberately carved protruding knobs on the sides of each block to serve as handles, making it easier for the temple builders to maneuver them.

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

Once shaped, the stone was immediately hauled away, falling back into the hands of the kingdom slaves.

Nearly twenty slaves strained to lift the finished block onto a wooden raft set atop rolling logs. A team of slaves pulled the raft forward with ropes, while the rest continuously placed logs at the front. Just like before, the stone crept steadily toward the quarry exit.

The exit lay just beside the entrance. The path there was paved with large stone blocks, forming a solid, level road that ended at a platform over two meters high. A four-wheeled wagon was parked in front of it, its bed perfectly flush with the platform so the heavy stone could be pushed aboard with minimal effort.

The wagon was built exceptionally sturdy. Its massive, thick wheels were pieced together from several whole sections of round timber.

A dedicated carpenter was stationed at the exit to handle immediate repairs, as the wagons were most prone to damage the moment a block was loaded onto them.

Four oxen pulled each wooden wagon. They were slow but reliable, capable of hauling around ten tons—roughly two to three blocks of stone—in a single trip.

Usually, they transported the stone to a simple dock along the Coseni River, where cargo ships would carry it the rest of the way to the buyer's requested destination. This method was relatively safe and saved a lot of labor.

However, for delivering stone to the Main Temple of Hades, the Thurii city hall explicitly forbade Aristagoras from using the inner city docks. Doing so would mean hauling the massive stones across more than half the inner city. This would damage the pristine roads, disrupt traffic, and disturb the residents' peace—more than half of whom were high-ranking officials and nobles. Most importantly, it posed a major security risk, as it would bring many unfamiliar slaves deep into the inner city. Taking an overland route bypassed these issues; since the Main Temple of Hades sat close to the inner city's western gate, the transport would be much easier to manage and control.

For Aristagoras, however, this was a colossal headache. The overland route from the quarry to the Main Temple of Hades stretched for about ten

From dawn to dusk, the entire quarry rang with the din of labor: the shouts of foremen, the rhythmic chants of the slaves, the calls of the ox drivers, the agonizing creak of timber under crushing weight, and the sudden shrieks of slaves caught in accidents... The noise rose and fell, endless and unyielding.

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

It was not until evening that the kingdom slaves finally dragged their exhausted bodies back to the camp. They had only worked an hour or so of overtime, but quarrying in the fading light had proven deadly. One slave failed to dodge falling rubble, taking a rock to the head and losing his life.

Naturally, apart from the man's immediate teammates—who were left sorrowful and shaken—the rest of the slaves remained indifferent. Some didn't even know it had happened. With thousands of slaves toiling in the sprawling quarry over this period, injury and death were daily realities. They had grown numb to it. Right now, all they craved was a hearty dinner and a good sleep.

Their wish was granted. Dinner was even more lavish than breakfast. Stuffed and content, the slaves patted their bulging bellies and trudged slowly back to their dormitories. After a quick wash, they collapsed into bed and immediately fell fast asleep.

Just then, the door to one of the dormitories swung open. A figure stood in the doorway and shouted, "Is Fabius Labeo Gaius here?"

Jolted awake, someone cursed furiously, "Damn it, who is it?!"

"Patrol guard!" the man in the doorway replied coldly.

The room instantly fell dead silent. A moment later, Gaius softly corrected him, "I think you called the wrong name. It should be Gaius Fabius Labeo."

"Are you sure you want to be called that?!" the guard snapped sternly.

Gaius did not dare answer.

Last year, King Davos proposed, and the Senate passed, the Kingdom of Daunia Surname Law. The decree mandated that everyone—whether a Daionian Citizen or a registered freeman seeking to join Daionia—must have both a given name and a surname. This was to allow the Census Department to easily register and look up their information. Furthermore, the surname had to come first, followed by the given name. Anyone who refused to comply would face punishment, and severe offenders could even be stripped of their citizenship.

To the ordinary citizens of Daionia, this was nothing new. Ever since King Davos used his own name as a surname for his children, his ministers and the populace had gradually followed suit. Nearly twenty years had passed since then. Most citizens already had both names, with the surname placed first. The promulgation of this decree merely codified a long-standing habit into formal law.