Novels online

Chapter 1061

Now?! " Maximus was stunned. He turned his head to look at the children and reminded Gaius, "Don't forget, the patrols will check on you at night!"

"Don't worry, I'll go back on time. I won't be caught by those people of Diónia!"

Seeing Gaius's insistence, Maximus had no choice but to agree. He asked his wife to take out his Turií wine from under the bed (it was given to him by Publius when he visited. The two of them had worked together for a long time in Rome and had a good relationship). He then asked his wife to bring the children into the house to rest early.

When the two children heard that they could rest early, they immediately cheered. This triggered another discussion from Gaius. He looked at the two small wooden boards and a white pen placed under the candlelight and said, "Brother, look, the children are unwilling to learn the language of Diónia. Why are you forcing them to learn this every day?"

As he had argued with Gaius on this matter several times in the past, Maximus smiled helplessly and did not want to say anything more. He moved the broken wooden table in the corner over, took out two wooden cups, and poured the wine …

After sending Gaius off, although Maximus's face was a little flushed due to the alcohol, his eyes were exceptionally deep. He never thought that the information that Gaius had inadvertently revealed while drinking and chatting would be so shocking that he could not just stand by and watch. He needed to make an important decision on this matter. It was related to his future and the future of his children.

Therefore, he sat in the house and repeatedly deliberated, hesitating …

… …

As the heart of the Kingdom of Diónia, the morning in the inner city of Turií had always been quiet and peaceful. However, due to the expansion of the main temple of Hades, the entire inner city had become much livelier. Sometimes, it was too noisy. However, not only did the people of the inner city express their understanding, they even strongly supported it. This was because most of them were loyal believers of Hades. All of them hoped that their god could sit in a more spacious and comfortable temple and receive more worship from the people. That way, it would be more powerful.

Moreover, the main temple of Hades was built 20 years ago when the city of Turín was being rebuilt. At that time, Diónia was just a newly established small alliance. Its national strength was not strong, and due to the financial constraints at that time, it was impossible to build a magnificent temple.

Now that the Kingdom of Diónia had become the most powerful country in the Western Mediterranean, the Temple of Hades, the spiritual symbol of the kingdom, could no longer match the prominent status of Diónia. Even the newly built Temple of Hades in Rome and the Temple of Hades in Syracuse were bigger and more spectacular than the main temple of Turí. This made the people of Turí, who had a sense of superiority, feel humiliated. Therefore, they had repeatedly requested the Senate to expand the Temple of Hades. It was only until this year that the king and the Senate approved it. As the initiators, of course, they had to cooperate actively.

Before dawn, the gates of the inner city were opened. The city guards who were not fully awake had to wake up and began to perform their duties. This was because the craftsmen who were responsible for the construction of the temple had begun to enter the inner city from the outer city. They were the most skilled craftsmen recruited by the Senate from all over the kingdom. There were thousands of them, and most of them were arranged to live in the temporary dormitories of the athletes during the football and rugby matches in the outer city. On top of that, the Ministry of Construction had also recruited more than 3,000 laborers from Turín. That was why there were long queues outside the gates of the inner city early in the morning.

Nearly 5,000 people were building the temple at the same time. This was a huge challenge to the management of the entire construction site and the security of the entire inner city.

The craftsmen had to wake up at four in the morning. There was a special canteen to provide them with a sumptuous breakfast. After breakfast, they would bring some bread and fruits to the construction site for lunch. After that, they would be led by their respective foremen to the various gates of the inner city. After a thorough inspection by the city guards, they would enter the inner city and ascend the Hill of Gods.

When most of the craftsmen had arrived, the chief foreman of the craftsmen would gather the foremen and assign them the tasks for the day. These foremen would then gather the craftsmen and laborers under them to pass on the tasks and instruct them on how to better complete the tasks.

After the meeting, thousands of workers would disperse and begin the day's construction.

The construction of the temple was divided into four main parts: the fine processing of the stone, the carving of the statue, the erection of the scaffolding, and the construction of the temple.

Up until now, the outer wall of the temple was more than half built. Therefore, the wooden scaffolding that surrounded the temple had already been erected. All that was left was to inspect and repair it. Most of the craftsmen and laborers were mainly focused on the fine processing of the stone and the construction of the temple.

The processing of the stone was divided into two types. The first was to process the sculpted stone more carefully. Not only did they have to remove the impurities from the stone and carve it into a more square shape, but they also had to ensure that the size and dimensions were exactly the same. Only then could they ensure that there would be no mistakes when they were piled up as bricks for the wall. The processing of the circular stone was even more stringent. This was because it was the material used to support the pillars of the temple. The circular area of each pillar was constantly shrinking from the bottom to the top. Therefore, the size of the circular stone was even more stringent. Moreover, the appearance of the stone had to be carved with decorative lines.

The second was to process the planks on the top of the temple. This was no ordinary processing. According to the requirements of the designer, they had to carve relief patterns that matched the theme of the temple. This put a higher requirement on the craftsmen's carving skills. Usually, famous stonemasons with high artistic standards were in charge of this.

In addition, some craftsmen had to further process the finely processed stone. They overlapped several square pieces of stone and used iron chisels to carve a complete T-shape or H-shape groove. Or they used an iron drill to drill through the center of the circular stone. Why did they have to work so hard? That was because it was difficult to use mortar to glue such a huge piece of stone together. Although the cement unique to Dionia was very sticky, it would ruin the beauty of the temple's exterior. Using this traditional method, one only needed to use metal nails to pierce through the small holes in the center to connect the various sections of the cylinder, or use iron clamps to insert the T-shaped grooves to connect the square bricks. Then, one could pour molten lead into the grooves to fix the metal nails and clamps. In addition, these grooves were all on the inside of the wall bricks. On the surface, it looked natural, sturdy, and beautiful, showing the greatness of the gods.

So how did these processed stone bricks and cylinders, which were so huge and heavy, get piled up on the high wall?

The craftsmen had a powerful tool for carrying stone — the crane. The Greeks had invented this lifting tool a long time ago. The Diónia Academy had studied the principles of levers, pulleys, and mechanics. They had greatly improved this machine and made it more efficient. It could be easily disassembled and carried by two or three people. As long as it was placed on a scaffold on a high floor and operated by two people, the stone could be lifted to a high place. The handle that was deliberately reserved when shaping the stone came into play at this time. It could be easily tied with a rope and then hung on the hook of the crane. When it was in place, the craftsmen would carefully chisel off the handle. Those stones that did not have a handle reserved could also be tied with the clamps or the grooves previously made to facilitate the transfer of the stone to the designated location by the crane.

The Greeks had been building temples for hundreds of years and had long discovered various methods to facilitate the lifting of stone materials. Since the founding of Dionia more than 20 years ago, it had never stopped building temples in various cities and towns. It had also accumulated a lot of experience and improved methods and tools, making the most dangerous process of moving and stacking stone materials in the process of building temples safer. It greatly reduced the casualty rate and increased the efficiency.

These 5,000 craftsmen and laborers were not only skilled, but they had also participated in the construction of the temples of Hades in other towns many times. They were very experienced and had a tacit understanding with each other. Therefore, although there were many people on the construction site, the division of labor was very clear. The whole scene was orderly and not messy at all.

Even though they had been working here for several months, everyone was still very dedicated and full of passion for the work. This was because they were building the main temple for the kingdom's patron, Hades. Almost all of them were loyal believers of Hades. They firmly believed that the main temple was the home of Hades and must provide the great god with the best residence. Any slack in the construction process would be disrespectful to him!

Moreover, the reconstruction of the main temple of Hades was also a great opportunity for the Kingdom of Diónia to show its culture and strength to other countries and forces throughout the Mediterranean. Therefore, even though the financial situation was a little tight, the Devers still did not hesitate to issue the decree of "building the most beautiful and magnificent temple in the world", which was unanimously approved by the elders.

Therefore, being able to participate in this great project was a great honor for the craftsmen.

According to the requirements of the Devers, the temple must be at least as magnificent as the Parthenon in Athens. But in fact, the original main temple of Hades was a double temple. This design would not change even if it was rebuilt. Therefore, it was decided that the temple should be at least twice the size of the Parthenon. In addition to that, according to the tradition of the Hades Temple, there would also be a Pantheon, a Hall of Valor, a Prison for the Wicked, and a Confessional in the temple. Therefore, the final design of the temple would be slightly larger.

The amount of work involved was naturally very large, and the amount of stone needed was naturally very large. Tens of thousands of slaves were mining the highest quality stone from stone mines across the country. The cost of the whole project was naturally a huge figure. However, the kingdom's finance only allocated a small part of the funds. Most of the money came from the entire system of the Hades Temple over the past 20 years and the fundraising of countless believers of Hades, which was enough to meet the needs.