Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1268: Chariot Racing (1)

Megakides was tempted by his words, but he still had reservations. "But... I'm afraid the officials from Crete won't let me leave..."

"What is there to worry about?" Siritheos dismissed his concern. "With the Theonian Ministry of Military backing you, even if those officials are unhappy, they wouldn't dare do anything to you!"

Reassured by Siritheos, Megakides finally made up his mind. "Thank you, Siritheos!" he said gratefully.

"Words aren't enough," Siritheos said, half-joking. "When you become a Daionian Citizen and a military officer, just don't kick me out when I come to you for help."

"Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll definitely help!" Megakides promised.

...

By the seventh day of the Theonian Games, most of the events had already been presented to the audience. Redesigned and reorganized by the Theonians, the traditional Greek athletic events had become not only fairer but also far more exciting—such as the foot races, and especially the boxing matches.

Traditional boxing matches were held in large arenas and continued until an opponent was knocked out or yielded, often resulting in severe injury or even death. In the Theonian Games, however, both fighters wore thick gloves. Victory was determined by the number of hits landed within a set time limit, or by a knockout. The competitors were much safer, and the matches were far less bloody.

Furthermore, the bouts took place inside a five-meter square ring enclosed by ropes and wooden posts. This prevented the fighters from easily dodging away, making the matches more intense, prolonged, and competitive, which won high praise from the crowd. Because the fatality rate had dropped so significantly, women and children were also allowed to watch.

Witnessing these novel arrangements, even the representatives from Olympia and Delphi fell deep into thought.

Of course, traditional events like the melee were completely excluded from the Theonian Games. Overly chaotic and bloody, they completely clashed with Davos's aesthetic preferences.

Meanwhile, the newly established events of the Theonian Games gave the audience immense surprises—such as archery, and particularly swimming.

The Greeks were a seafaring people. Most grew up playing in the sea, making swimming and rowing almost instinctual. Yet, no Greek athletic festival had ever included swimming as a competitive event, likely because it was considered too difficult to judge. The Theonian Games, however, established clear standards for swimming competitions. West of Thurii City, along the banks of the Crati River, the organizing committee sectioned off an area to construct an open-air aquatic arena. In the center of the venue, they dug a rectangular pit fifty meters long, twenty-five meters wide, and two meters deep. It was lined with solid, dense Davos' cement and covered with smooth marble so that when channels diverted water from the Crati River into the pool, there would be no noticeable leakage. Ropes were then strung across the width of the pool every three meters, forming eight distinct swimming lanes. With that, the perfect conditions for a swimming competition were established.

Although this first Theonian Games allowed competitors to use any stroke—people at the time did not have standardized swimming styles anyway—and merely used distance to separate the events, the audience still packed the venue for every race. Their cheers and shouts echoed endlessly along the Crati River day after day.

Even though the swimmers were not allowed to apply olive oil, their vigorous figures—swinging their arms and kicking their legs amidst the rippling blue water under the shining sun—still showcased profound strength and beauty. It deeply inspired the audience's yearning and love for the sea.

The same was true for the rowing events. The Greeks certainly had the means to hold rowing competitions, but the likely reason they never did was because most made their living from the sea. Sailing, fishing, and maritime trading were incredibly common; precisely because it was so ordinary, there was little interest in turning it into a competition. However, the boat races at the Theonian Games were designed to be full of excitement and fierce competition.

Daionia's boat races were divided into two types. The first was a rowing sprint. It utilized a special wooden boat built exclusively for the competition by the Thurii Shipyard. The vessel was very narrow but exceptionally long, capable of seating four to eight oarsmen. It had no sails and relied entirely on rowing. The racecourse was set within the Crati River, and just like the foot races on land, there were preliminary heats and finals. The races were further divided into several categories based on distance and the number of oarsmen, with the shortest course being one li. When a race began, the competitors rowed furiously, pushing the boat's speed to over a dozen knots. It looked exactly like the charge of a Trireme Warship during a naval battle, leaving the spectators on the shore boiling with excitement.

The second type of boat race was sailing. These were also competition vessels, modified from small cargo ships by the Thurii Shipyard. Each boat could only be manned by a single person, and the use of oars was strictly forbidden; the competitor could only manipulate the sails to advance. Therefore, the racecourse was set within the Bay of Thurii. There were no preliminary heats; all participants competed together, setting off from the Port of Thurii and finishing at Tarentum's Great Harbor. The race lasted an entire day, with numerous observation ships stationed along the route to prevent cheating. Because this competition was a pure test of navigational skills on the open sea, the participants were highly experienced shipowners and fishermen from various regions and city-states. Naturally, it attracted a massive crowd of shipowners and fishermen from both the Kingdom of Daunia and other city-states to watch and learn.

On the seventh day of the Theonian Games, a highly traditional event—yet one the Theonians were relatively unfamiliar with—finally began. It was chariot racing.

Across all Greek athletic festivals, chariot racing was the most popular. After all, humanity always harbored a passionate obsession with the ultimate pursuit of speed. Among speed-based events like foot races and rowing sprints, chariot racing took the longest, was the most suspenseful, and easily ignited the greatest passion in the crowd. Furthermore, it was the favorite event of Greek aristocrats. According to the rules of traditional games, the championship title for a chariot race did not belong to the driver who controlled the horses, but rather to the owner who provided the chariot. This gave Greek nobles—who had neither the time to train nor the ability to compete in person—the opportunity to win the glory of an athletic champion. Because of this, many famous Greek elites had claimed victory in this event, including Alcibiades of Athens, the King of Sparta, and the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius...

However, the Theonian Games altered the tradition of this event. In the invitation letters sent out to the various city-states detailing the rules, they explicitly emphasized one point: the glory of the chariot racing championship would be shared equally between the driver and the chariot owner, and the prize money would be split evenly between the two.

In traditional Greek chariot races, many drivers were slaves. Forcing a master to share the glory of a championship with a slave was practically an insult to the Greek aristocracy. Yet, despite this, a considerable number of nobles from various Greek city-states still registered to compete. In this current era—where Daionia's national strength was formidable, dominating more than half of the Mediterranean Sea and exerting control over the Greek World—this was a golden opportunity for them to present their names before the King of Daonia. Such exposure would be immensely beneficial to their future development in the political arena.

It wasn't just these Greek aristocrats who were enthusiastic about the chariot racing at the Theonian Games. The Theonians, who loved tense and thrilling competitive sports, also flocked to the long-rumored chariot races like ducks. Therefore, on the day of the competition, tens of thousands of spectators swarmed from all directions toward the arena located in the northern part of the Sybaris Plain.

Because the venue had only recently been built, it didn't even have an official name yet and was simply called the Thurii Arena. Back when the organizing committee first confirmed chariot racing as an event, the Thurii city hall—having absolutely no experience hosting such competitions—dispatched a special delegation to Olympia, Delphi, and other locations to observe and learn. This delegation included officials and engineers from the Ministry of Construction.

However, upon their return, the arena they designed and built was vastly different from the chariot racing tracks on the Greek Mainland. While Greeks believed that any athletic competition should be free to watch, Theonians were perfectly accustomed to paying for admission, so this arena was a fully enclosed structure. Due to the rushed construction timeline, it wasn't as majestic as the Hades Main Arena. It was only twenty meters high with just two tiers of seating. Yet, its length surpassed any other arena in the kingdom, stretching over five hundred meters. Its exterior formed a long oval shape, allowing it to easily accommodate over thirty thousand spectators.

It was still early in the day, but the seats were already nearing full capacity. Suddenly, the noisy arena erupted into thunderous cheers—King Davos had just appeared on the royal viewing platform alongside his family.

Much like the Hades Main Arena, the chariot racing arena also featured a dedicated royal platform. However, unlike the Hades Main Arena, it wasn't built into the regular seating. Instead, it was constructed above the two tiers of audience seats, making it the highest point in the entire venue. This was a thoughtful consideration made by the engineers for the royal family: because the track was so extensively long, only by sitting at a higher vantage point could one take in a panoramic view of the entire racecourse.

After waving to the crowd in acknowledgment, Davos returned to his seat. Meanwhile, Christoya, Dido, and the other women kept the children reined in by their sides, forbidding them from running around. Although there were protective railings all around, a careless fall from a height of over twenty meters was nothing to joke about.