Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1058: The Temple Under Reconstruction

"Now?!" Maximus was stunned. He glanced at the children and reminded Gaius, "Don't forget, the patrols make their rounds late at night!"

"Don't worry, I'll head back on time. I won't give those Theonians any excuse to use against me!"

Seeing Gaius so insistent, Maximus yielded. He had his wife bring out his prized Thurii Wine from under the bed—a gift from Publius when he visited, from when the two had worked together in Rome for years and remained on good terms. Then, he asked her to take the children into the bedroom to turn in early.

Hearing they could go to sleep early, the two children immediately cheered. This prompted a remark from Gaius. Looking at the two small wooden boards and white chalk resting in the candlelight, he said, "Look, brother. The kids don't even want to learn the Daionian script. Why do you still force them to study it every day?"

Having argued with Gaius about this several times in the past, Maximus only offered a resigned smile. Unwilling to say more on the subject, he dragged a battered wooden table over from the corner, brought out two wooden cups, and poured the wine...

After seeing Gaius off, Maximus's face was flushed from the wine, but his gaze remained remarkably sharp. He had never expected the information Gaius inadvertently revealed over drinks to be so shocking. He could not simply sit idly by; he needed to make a crucial decision regarding this matter, for it would dictate both his future and the fate of his children.

Thus, he sat alone in the room, weighing his options again and again, torn by indecision...

...

Early mornings in the Inner District of Thurii City, the absolute core of Daionia, were usually peaceful and serene. Recently, however, the expansion of the Main Temple of Hades had made the entire Inner District much livelier, and sometimes overly noisy. Yet the residents not only understood this disruption but strongly supported it. As devout followers of Hades, they all hoped their patron deity could reside in a vaster, more comfortable temple, receiving worship from the masses and better displaying his divine might.

Today, the Kingdom of Daunia had become the most powerful nation in the western Mediterranean. As the spiritual symbol of the kingdom, the Main Temple of Hades could no longer match Daunia's current illustrious status. Even the newly built temples of Hades in Rome and Syracuse were larger and grander than the main temple in Thurii. This deeply humiliated the proud citizens of Thurii, prompting them to repeatedly petition the Senate to expand the Main Temple of Hades. It wasn't until this year that they finally received approval from the king and the Senate. As the initiators, they naturally had to cooperate actively.

Before dawn, the gates of the Inner District were already open. The half-awake city guards had to rouse themselves and fulfill their duties, as the artisans responsible for building the temple had begun trickling in from the outer districts. Numbering over a thousand, these were the most skilled artisans conscripted by the Senate from across the kingdom. Most were housed in the outer district, staying in the temporary dormitories normally used by athletes during the Rugby championship and football tournaments. Furthermore, the Department of Construction had recruited over 3,000 laborers from the Thurii Region, resulting in long queues forming outside the Inner District's gates bright and early.

Having nearly 5,000 people building the temple simultaneously posed a massive test for the organization and management of the construction site, as well as the security of the entire Inner District.

The artisans had to wake up at 4:00 AM, where dedicated canteens provided a hearty breakfast. After eating, they packed bread and fruit to take to the site for lunch. Led by their respective foremen, they gathered at the gates of the Inner District. Only after careful inspection by the city guards were they allowed inside to ascend the Hill of the Gods.

Once the artisans had largely arrived, the chief foreman assembled the various foremen to assign the day's work. These foremen then gathered their own artisans and laborers, relaying the tasks and guiding them on how best to complete them.

After the meeting, the thousands of workers dispersed, and the day's construction work commenced.

Building the temple was mainly divided into four parts: finely processing the stone, sculpting the divine statues, erecting scaffolding, and constructing the temple body.

By this point in the project, more than half of the temple's outer walls had been erected. The wooden scaffolding surrounding the temple had been set up long ago, requiring only ongoing inspection and maintenance. The vast majority of the artisans and laborers focused their energy on the fine processing of stone blocks and the construction of the temple structure.

Stone processing was further divided into two types. The first involved more precise work on pre-shaped stones. Not only did they have to remove the rough edges from the square blocks to cut them perfectly true, but they also had to ensure their dimensions were accurate to the millimeter. Only then could they guarantee there would be no errors when stacking them as wall bricks. The requirements for processing the cylindrical stones were even stricter, as they served as the materials for the pillars supporting the temple's main structure. The circumference of each temple pillar tapered gradually from bottom to top, meaning the dimensional requirements for these stones were extremely stringent. Furthermore, decorative lines had to be carved into their exteriors.

The second type was processing the stone slabs for the temple roof. This wasn't ordinary stonework; they had to carve relief patterns that matched the temple's theme according to the designer's specifications. This demanded a much higher level of sculpting skill, and the task was usually handled by renowned masons with exceptional artistic talent.

Additionally, some artisans had to perform further treatments on the finely processed stones. They would stack several square stones and use iron chisels to carve out complete T-shaped or H-shaped grooves, or use iron drills to bore holes through the centers of the cylindrical stones... Why go to all this trouble? Because it was difficult to secure such massive stones effectively using just mortar. Although Daionia's unique cement had strong adhesive properties, it would ruin the temple's beautiful exterior. Using this traditional method, they could simply drive metal pins through the central holes to connect the cylinder sections, or embed iron clamps into the T-shaped grooves to lock the square bricks together. Then, they poured molten lead into the grooves to secure the pins and clamps. Furthermore, since these grooves were on the inner side of the wall bricks, the exterior appeared seamless, sturdy, and beautiful, highlighting the greatness of the deities.

So how were these enormous, heavy processed stone bricks and cylinders stacked onto the high walls?

The artisans had a highly effective tool for moving stone: the Hoist. The Greeks had invented this lifting device long ago, and the Theonia Akademia had systematically studied levers, pulleys, and mechanics to vastly improve the machine. This increased its efficiency and made it easy for two or three people to dismantle and transport. By setting it up on the upper levels of the scaffolding, two people could operate it to hoist stones high into the air. The handles intentionally left on the stones during the initial shaping phase came into play here; they made it easy to secure the stones with ropes and hang them on the Hoist's hooks. Once positioned properly, the artisans would carefully chisel the handles off. Stones without pre-carved handles could still be secured using lifting tongs or by utilizing previously carved grooves to tie them off, making it easy for the Hoist to move them to their designated spots.

Having built temples for centuries, the Greeks had long figured out various methods to facilitate the lifting of stones. Over the past twenty years since Daionia's founding, they had been continuously building temples in various towns, accumulating a wealth of experience and improving their methods and tools. This made the most dangerous step in temple construction—moving and stacking stones—much safer, drastically reducing casualties and increasing efficiency.

These 5,000 artisans and laborers were not only highly skilled but had also participated multiple times in the construction of Temples of Hades in other towns. With rich experience and seamless coordination, the massive worksite functioned with incredibly clear divisions of labor. The entire scene was highly orderly, without the slightest hint of chaos.

Even though they had been working here for months, everyone remained deeply invested and full of passion for their work. They were building the Main Temple of Hades for the kingdom's patron deity. As almost all of them were devout believers in Hades, they were convinced that the main temple was Hades's home and that they must provide this great god with the best possible residence. Any negligence during the construction process would be a profound disrespect to him!

Moreover, rebuilding the Main Temple of Hades was a prime opportunity for the Kingdom of Daunia to showcase its culture and strength to all other nations and factions across the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, despite somewhat tight finances, Davos did not hesitate to issue the decree to "build the most beautiful and grandiose temple in the world," which received unanimous approval from the Senators.

Thus, the artisans considered it a tremendous honor to be able to participate in this grand project.

According to Davos's requirements, this temple had to be at least as magnificent as the Parthenon in Athens. In reality, the original Main Temple of Hades was a dual-main temple. This design wouldn't change even with the reconstruction, meaning the temple would be at least twice the size of the Parthenon. Furthermore, following the traditions of the Temple of Hades, the sanctuary would also house a Hall of Sages, a Hall of Valor, a Prison of the Wicked, and a Confession Room. Consequently, the final designed footprint of the temple was even larger.

The scale of the project was naturally massive, requiring an immense amount of stone. Tens of thousands of slaves mined top-quality stone from quarries across the country, and the total expenditure for the project was astronomical. However, the kingdom's treasury only allocated a small portion of the funds; the vast majority of the money came from the savings of the entire Hades temple system over the past twenty years, as well as fundraising from countless followers of Hades, which was enough to meet the needs.