Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1259: The Entrance Ceremony (3)

To win the favor of the Megarans, the Corinthians also proposed, "The taxes and tolls collected when merchants from other city-states transport goods across the Isthmus will be divided equally between our two city-states. Furthermore, Megaran merchants will have priority access to the Diolkos, and their fees will be heavily discounted..." (The Diolkos was a famous engineering project built by the Corinthians two hundred years ago. It was a stone-paved road spanning the Isthmus of Corinth with two parallel grooves running down its center. Specialized carts traveled along this road, their wheels fitting perfectly into the grooves. Because the road connected the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf, the Corinthians could load cargo from a large ship in one gulf onto a small boat, hoist that boat onto a cart on the Diolkos, haul it across the land, and transfer the cargo to another large ship in the opposite gulf. This drastically shortened the voyage and saved immense amounts of time.)

The sincerity shown by the Corinthians gradually swayed Megara, and the two sides had already begun negotiating an alliance. However, on the Greek Mainland today, an alliance could not be formed simply through wishful thinking; it strictly required the consent of the Greek League.

This particular Corinthian representative in the Greek council worried that the foolish behavior of the Council of Corinth at these games would anger the King of Daonia, causing him to withdraw his approval for Corinth's proposal to establish an Isthmian alliance.

While the Corinthian general Cleonion stood steeped in regret, Megakides waited at the arena entrance, listening to the thunderous cheers pouring from inside. He was already eager to move, for it was finally their turn to enter.

Watching the Corinthian athletes pass the royal stands, the Daionian official stationed at the entrance shouted, "The Cretan athletic delegation, enter!"

The Daionian soldiers blocking the path immediately stepped aside. The impatient Cretan athletes followed the young placard bearer forward. As they passed the Daionian official in charge of entry order, he offered the same friendly encouragement as before. "Warriors of Crete, hold your heads high and welcome the passionate cheers of the crowd!"

The moment Megakides stepped into the arena, earth-shattering cheers washed over him from all directions. The noise hit like howling gales over a stormy sea, while the towering spectator stands surrounding them felt like surging waves. Standing in the center of this storm, how could they not feel awestruck? No wonder the Daionian official had called them warriors; simply facing such an environment required true courage. Even Megakides, whose resolve had been unshakable throughout the Cretan qualifiers, felt his nerves fraying. After all, the imposing scale of the Hades Main Arena vastly exceeded anything from the preliminary events—to say nothing of the sheer lack of Cretan faces in the crowd.

The carefree Siritheos, on the other hand, seemed largely unaffected. He constantly looked around, occasionally exclaiming in amazement. "Wow, the rumors were true! Some of the spectators really are women!"

"Look! That young woman over there in the white hat, the one quite close to us—she looks gorgeous!"

Siritheos's running commentary gradually melted the stiffness from his teammates. They began mimicking his easy smiles, waving to the crowd while trading their own remarks about the spectators.

As they approached the royal stands, Megakides joked in a low voice, "Look, Siritheos! The Daionian princess you want to marry is right up there!"

Siritheos suddenly stopped talking. His expression turned solemn. Stepping before the royal stands, he halted and offered a deep, respectful bow.

It wasn't that the previous delegations had ignored the royal stands, but they had all been Daionian athletes, and they had offered chest-thumping military salutes. Most of them were serving citizens in the Daionian Army, and King Davos was their supreme commander. But now, an athlete from a Greek city-state was offering a traditional Greek bow of deep respect to the Daunian Royal Family. Not only were the spectators surprised, but Davos and his family were equally astonished.

"Your Majesty, it seems your Theonian Rugby Games have earned the approval of some athletes before they have even officially begun," Plato said with a smile.

"I suspect what these athletes approve of is the exorbitant prize money," Xenophon sneered.

Davos sighed with deep emotion. "Since the founding of the Olympic Games, the four major festivals have swept the Greek World for centuries. Their fame has spread far and wide among the other races of the Mediterranean Sea. Regrettably, those outsiders could never participate. Now, Daionia has provided an opportunity, allowing races outside of Greece to join such a grand festival. At the same time, it allows outstanding Greek athletes to showcase their exquisite skills to the entire Mediterranean Sea. I believe that is the true reason that young Greek athlete offered his respect to the Theonian Rugby Games!"

"I suspect the significance of founding the Theonian Rugby Games goes far beyond that," Plato said thoughtfully. "I remember Daionia solemnly stated in the invitations sent to each city-state: 'The Theonian Rugby Games will follow the fine traditions of the major Greek festivals, requiring all participating nations to cease all hostilities during the games and maintain a peaceful competitive environment...' Look at the athletes in the arena. They do not just hail from Greece; they encompass the vast majority of city-states and nations across the Mediterranean Sea. What does Daionia's demand truly mean?!"

Plato's tone grew heavy and impassioned. "It means Daionia intends to extend the peace of Greece to the entire Mediterranean Sea! What monumental ambition! If realized, it will be an unprecedented, magnificent achievement!"

"Plato, you are getting too excited," Xenophon said evenly. "Have there been so few conflicts breaking out during the games over the past few decades? Not to mention, this is only the inaugural Theonian Rugby Games. Extend this Greek tradition to the whole Mediterranean Sea? Easy to say, but to actually achieve it... Heh..."

Davos's expression was calm, but his voice rang with power. "Daionia always honors its promises. Since we dared to speak those words, we naturally possess the resolve to fulfill them! If any participating city-state or race violates the demands set forth in our letters, no matter how far away they are, Daionia will dispatch its army to punish them and uphold the prestige of the Theonian Rugby Games!"

Meeting Davos's profound gaze, Xenophon felt a slight tremor in his heart. Still, he stubbornly retorted, "Extending peace to the Mediterranean Sea... That is certainly a noble desire, but do not forget about Persia!"

"Yes, there is Persia..." Hearing this, Davos showed no embarrassment, only letting out a pensive sigh.

Following Siritheos's bow, the Daionian spectators showered the Cretan athletic delegation with even louder cheers.

Looking rather smug, Siritheos turned to his teammates. "Did you see that? The crowd is cheering for me!"

Megakides curled his lip. He felt certain the only reason this guy had bowed just now was to show off and steal the spotlight!

After the Cretan athletic delegation entered, delegations from Kroton, the Dauni region, Thebes, Egypt, and many other city-states and regions filed into the arena one after another. The spectators' enthusiasm remained at a fever pitch, their cheers unceasing. The entrance ceremony lasted for a full hour before all seventy-nine delegations—nearly three thousand athletes—finally stood assembled in the center of the stadium.

A very small handful of envoys from the Greek city-states, led by the representatives of Olympia, looked out at the densely packed crowd of athletes with grim expressions. Previously, they had held Daionia's attempt to host these games in utter contempt, believing from the bottom of their hearts that 'an unorthodox, uncultured nation like Daionia could never successfully host the games.' Yet, seeing the massive number of athletes in the arena, their faces inevitably paled. The turnout was clearly several times larger than that of any previous athletic festival. It meant the influence of the Theonian Rugby Games was far greater than they had ever imagined.

At that moment, red flags were raised once more upon the host's platform. The announcers' booming voices echoed through the arena. "Esteemed athletes, honored guests! We all know that in ancient times, Prometheus stole the sacred flame from the Realm of Olympus and brought it down to the mortal world. From that day forward, humanity shed its barbarism and ignorance, stepping steadily toward prosperity and civilization. Fire became a sacred element revered by every household and every city-state.

Even when forced by circumstance to leave their homeland, our people would carry a single ember of the sacred fire from their mother city's temple. They would do everything in their power to keep it burning on their journey, ultimately rekindling it upon the altar of their new home thousands of miles away... Only by doing so could they truly believe that their hard-won new home would receive the protection of the gods, and that their mother city's civilization would continue to thrive there. That is the fundamental reason why the priests of the Greek city-states are scattered across the Mediterranean Sea like stars in the sky, yet remain so closely intertwined!

Today, the Theonian Rugby Games will also hold a sacred ceremony! The holy flame from the Main Temple of Hades in the Kingdom of Daunia will ignite the altar within this arena. Throughout these games, the altar's flame will burn eternally. Hades will lead the gods in protecting the fairness, justice, and smooth progression of these games. He will bless the athletes in achieving outstanding results, and he will severely punish any hostile acts that seek to disrupt this festival!..."

"Now, please remain completely silent and respectfully await the heroes of the Kingdom of Daunia as they carry the sacred flame into the arena!"

Upon hearing this, the representatives of Olympia were momentarily stunned, then completely infuriated. Daionia had promised in their invitation letters that these games would never be used to appease Hades. Yet the upcoming ceremony—fetching the holy flame from the Main Temple of Hades—was nothing but a thinly veiled sacrifice to the god of the underworld under the guise of an athletic festival. It was sheer deception!