Chapter 262
The Greek soldiers on the field seemed to have heard the cheers. They immediately put on their helmets, picked up their shields, and put on their red cloaks. They formed a tight phalanx to resist the enemy's attack …
However, there were too many "Persia". They swarmed forward and surrounded the warriors. The cavalry galloped back and forth on the periphery. The archers kept shooting arrows into the sky (all of them had their arrowheads shaved off). The infantrymen let out strange laughter …
The audience could only see the dazzling red and the roars of the warriors through the gaps between the "Persia" encirclement.
The drumbeats became denser and louder …
Under the attack of the "Persia", the Greek phalanx retreated step by step. They were about to retreat to the edge of the square …
The attention of the ordinary people was completely attracted by the tense scene on the field. Someone shouted anxiously, "Fight! Greeks! "
The shout resonated with the audience.
"Fight!!! Greeks!!! " The audience also began to shout loudly.
At this moment, the sonorous singing sounded again. "Hades" was standing at the forefront of the platform. He slowly waved his trident …
The surrounded Greek soldiers suddenly roared in unison, "Hey! Ho!! Hades!!! Ho!!! " Dozens of bugles sounded at the same time.
The "Persia" began to retreat and finally collapsed …
The red phalanx of the Greek mercenaries was fully displayed in front of the audience. Under the strong rhythm of the drumbeats, they marched in a uniform and powerful pace, charging forward like an iron wall …
The audience felt their blood boiling. Those who had not seen or participated in the military training of Diónia and the VIPs were captivated by the strength and beauty of the soldiers on the field. They cheered loudly.
The "General of Persia" fell behind. He was dragged off his horse by the "Devers" who charged in front. He stepped on the body of the "General of Persia", raised his spear, and pierced the chest of the "enemy" with an exaggerated and infectious movement.
"Devers! Devers!! Devers!!! … "The audience could not help but burst into thunderous cheers.
"Previously, Lord Consul said that he would let us see a completely different temple celebration, and he really did it!" Marigi, who was standing behind the platform, glanced at his Senate colleagues with different expressions and sighed loudly.
"Yeah, it's a very different kind of celebration! Lord Devers is afraid that the people will forget his heroic deeds in the past, so he didn't forget to promote himself on such a sacred occasion! "Polyxis said in a strange tone.
Cunogorata and Cornelius looked at each other. They didn't say anything, but they were a little uneasy.
"He really did it! Haven't you noticed? This would be a new kind of drama, one that would not be performed by one or two people. Instead, it would be performed by hundreds and thousands of people, recreating the spectacular scenes of history! On the other hand, Ancetanos was so excited that he was almost incoherent. The Devers had enlightened him.
The beautiful chorus, the musical accompaniment, the hundreds of people fighting and performing that were close to a real battle … It really shocked the audience, even the Senate elders.
"I'm looking forward to the next performance!" Merses exclaimed sincerely. This reminded him of the difficult times in Persia. His words were also the common voice of the former mercenaries.
However, Amyntas curled his lips and muttered in a low voice, "The battle scene is too fake!"
"Didn't you hear Ancetanos? This is just acting, not a real battle. Look at the excited people, the Devers are using this kind of performance to tell them about our heroic deeds! "Antonios, who was next to him, criticized Amyntas in a low voice.
"The one playing the Devers should be Olivers, right? He's really good! Ledes's Persia General is not good enough, he's like a block of wood! " Epicthenis's rather interesting comments attracted the former mercenary elders to join in.
Next, "Hades" led the mercenaries to Greece, the Lucarians invaded Turií, and the mercenaries defeated the Lucanian Alliance …
Vesba, Hemont, and the rest of the Lucarians watched the square anxiously.
Obviously, the Devers had taken their feelings into consideration. They only skimmed over the harm the Lucanians had done to the Turií, and instead focused on the last scene: Under the cheerful accompaniment of songs and drums, "Hades" asked the "Devers" to lead the Greeks and Lucanians to reconcile. They wrestled, fought goats, drank, and laughed merrily. In the end, they held hands and formed a large circle, with "Hades" standing in the center. The crowd sang the song of Hades loudly, swinging their arms and kicking their legs, and kept expanding and shrinking the circle. The atmosphere was very lively, attracting the people outside the square to join in. The song of Hades resounded throughout the city …
As the lord of the underworld, Hades was said to be dark, cruel, and feared. Therefore, among the Greeks, he was far less popular than the main gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, and Apollo. Canios liked and disliked Hades as much as the rest of the Greeks, so when he heard that Diónia wanted to make Hades the patron god of the city-state alliance, he was shocked. But now, he was attracted by the wonderful performance in the square and had a good impression of Hades. He could not help but join the crowd in singing the song of Hades.
Not only him, but the leaders of Lucaria who only worshipped the god of Asenus asked the people around them the meaning of the song in strange and stiff Greek. Some of them even hummed along. Compared to the majority of the people of Diónia, the VIPs of the Southern Alliance who were invited to the ceremony had their own thoughts. Some of them even hoped that Diónia would make a fool of itself in the ceremony, such as the people of Crotone.
But at this moment, the chief general of Crotone, Lucias, who was also shocked by the unprecedented worshipping ceremony in Greece, sighed, "It seems that the faith of Hades will really take root among the people of Diónia."
"We, the Greeks of the Western Mediterranean, believe in Hera and Apollo the most, and believe in the dark Hades. Only the barbaric outsiders of Diónia would do this!" Ascamas said indignantly. His good friend Myron was expelled because he was defeated by Diónia, so he had some resentment in his heart. Moreover, Crotone had the most magnificent Temple of Apollo in Great Greece. Greeks from other city-states often went there to worship. So although the performance in the square amazed him, he still complained confidently, "Look, it's almost noon, and the weather is so hot. When can we go see the Temple of Hades?!"
"Yeah, my legs are going numb from standing!" Another general of Crotone said in a seemingly joking manner, causing a commotion among the VIPs.
"Dong!!!" The loud and long bell suddenly rang, causing the hearts of the people who were disappointed because of the end of the performance to tremble.
"Look, it's the Temple of Hades!" Someone in the crowd exclaimed.
In the northwest of Victory Square, on the hill behind the Senate Hall, the building, which was half-covered by scaffolding and large pieces of linen in the morning, had completely revealed its true appearance when the people were concentrating on the performance in the square: a towering, magnificent white building shining under the hot sun!
Plesinas took the lead, followed by the 50 saintesses in white robes, the senators of the Senate, the VIPs of various city-states, the people on the north side of the square, and the people on the south side of the square … Under the orderly guidance of the soldiers, the people slowly moved towards the Temple of Hades in an orderly manner …
The bronze bell was still being rung at a steady pace, and each sound was clearer and deeper than the previous one, soothing the people's anxious mood.
The Temple of Hades was getting closer, and it became clearer in the eyes of the people: it was a very unique temple. Its height was no different from other temples, but its length was twice as long as the Temple of Crotone Apollo, the largest of all the city-states in Greece. More importantly, as the location of the guardian temple of a city-state, according to tradition, it was also the center of a city-state. It had to be surrounded by walls to protect it, and become the acropolis of Turín, just like the Temple of Apollo in Turín. But not only was there no wall on the hillside ahead, there were stone steps from the east, west, south, and north, which made it very convenient to go straight to the temple.
Antares, who had just joined the Senate not long ago, curiously asked Cornelus, who had been getting along well with him, "Why doesn't this new temple have walls?"
Cornelus answered seriously, "This is the suggestion of Lord Devers. He thinks that without walls, the people can freely go to the temple to offer sacrifices and pray, to show the love of Hades for the people of Diónia!"
The Devers were the favored ones of Hades, and the high priests of the temple. Usually, no one would object to the suggestion of the Temple of Hades. Antares looked at the temple in front of him, the century-old tradition still puzzled him, "But this way, Turín will have no acropolis!"
Cornelus sighed, and his expression became a little strange. He said, "Lord Devers insisted that no more acropolis be built in Turín. He said …" At this point, the usually gentle governor of Amendolara's tone became a little more firm, "'The cities in the Alliance of Diónia are the walls of the Alliance, and Turín is the acropolis of the Alliance. Diónia does not need any more acropolis!'"
When Antares heard this, he was stunned. Using the city as a wall?! Treating the whole region as a city?! A sense of heroism rose in his heart, and the figure of the young governor appeared in his mind. He could not help but be fascinated. What a broad-mindedness and boldness! No wonder he could build a powerful city-state alliance!
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