Chapter 641
The Devers' words made Patroclus bite his lips.
The Devers looked straight at him. "Then becoming my son-in-law will only make your future more difficult. Are you still willing to marry Cynthia?"
As soon as the Devers finished speaking, Patroclus blurted out, "I am! I am willing to marry Cynthia! I will also make more contributions to prove my ability and change the prejudices of others! "
Dyvers looked at the confident and high-spirited young man in front of him with admiration in his eyes. "Tomorrow night, I'll be holding a private banquet at home. I've invited you and your parents to the banquet to discuss the engagement between you and Cynthia."
… …
The Downey people had been conquered. The next step was to govern this newly conquered land.
In the Senate of Diónia, the governors of the towns in Downey were elected by the elders and approved by the Devers. Only the governor of Lucenia, which was the most controversial town, was not approved by the Devers. It was not until Antalys brought up a name that was almost forgotten by everyone — Antonios. He received the support of most of the former mercenary elders, Lucania elders, and Bruti elders. The smart elders realized that this was the intention of the Devers.
Antonios, who had been staying at home claiming to be sick, received a letter of appointment signed by the Devers from the palace herald, Aristiras.
During this period, he was used to seeing the mansion that was once lively and then deserted. He was also used to his father being imprisoned and his brother being executed, and his wife crying beside his ear every day, blaming him for not being able to help at all. Antonios had experienced so much in just a few months. He could not help but feel emotional as he looked at the letter of appointment in his hands. After all, the king of the Devers did not forget him. From this appointment, it could be seen that the governor of Lucenia, as the central town of Downey, was only an elder who had made outstanding contributions and was highly valued by the Devers.
"His Majesty asked me to convey a message," Aristiras said expressionlessly. "He hopes that you will learn from your past mistakes and govern Lucenia well. Let the Downey people integrate into Diónia as soon as possible."
"I won't let you down, Your Majesty!" Antonius said excitedly.
He declined the invitation of Capus, Felicius, Amyntas, and the other former mercenary elders who were planning to hold a celebration banquet for his return. In the early hours of the next day, he only brought two attendants and quietly went to Lucenia to take up his post.
… …
King of Sparta, Agesilaus' brother, Terutias, led the Sparta army towards the north unhurriedly. It was not until the spring of the second year (that is, the eleventh year of the Kingdom of Diónia, 382 BC) that they arrived at the Calgedic Peninsula. They were warmly welcomed and supported by King Amyntas of Macedon, who provided a large number of cavalry. After winning two battles, Terutias forced his way to the city of Orinthus. However, during the siege, they were ambushed by the reinforcements of the Calgilidic Alliance, who supported Olympus. The Sparta army suffered a crushing defeat, and their commander, Terlitias, was killed.
When the news reached Sparta, there was a great shock.
Agesilaus felt even more heartache, and he even fell ill and was bedridden.
After a discussion, the Council of Elders decided that they would never compromise with the Calgilidic Alliance led by Olympus. They would continue to attack them until they were destroyed. Otherwise, they would not be able to restore Sparta's prestige in Greece.
Therefore, Sparta began to mobilize the allies of Peloponnesus, preparing to gather a larger coalition army to fight in Northern Greece. The commander of the army was another king of Sparta, Agesiporis.
During this period, the fall of the Thebes had always made the people of Athens feel uneasy. Therefore, they did their best to help the exiles of the Thebes. They built many shelters in the mountains between Attica and Pioscia. However, although the people of Athens were wary of Sparta, they did not want to openly make it their enemy, especially now that Sparta was so powerful. Therefore, they only paid close attention to the movements of the people of Sparta.
… …
In the northwest suburbs of Athens, next to the sacred forest of the Academia by the Kefisos River, there was an academy called Academy.
The courtyard stood on the riverbank of the murmuring water, green grass, and blooming flowers. The entrance of the courtyard was a simple arched door with the words "Those who do not understand geometry are not allowed to enter."
In a small pavilion in the academy, more than a dozen young people sat around and listened carefully to a middle-aged man's lecture.
This middle-aged man had a broad forehead, deep eyes, and broad shoulders. Although he was not too tall, he was relatively burly, but he gave off a refined and quiet temperament. He was the famous scholar in all of Greece, Plato.
Plato's family was prominent, so he received a good education from a young age. When he was young, he loved writing poetry and drama until one day, he met Socrates talking to someone else at a poetry competition. Plato was suddenly enlightened, and many questions that he had been thinking about but could not find an answer seemed to be solved in an instant. So he threw his poems into a raging fire on the spot and took Socrates as his teacher, changing his passion from literary creation to philosophical research.
That year, Plato was 20 years old.
After Socrates was tried and finally executed, Plato, who was extremely disappointed with the government of Athens, began his life of travel. He went to Megara, Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Sicily, and finally returned to Athens because of an accident.
Because of his family, Plato was still very interested in politics, but after the loss of Thrasybulus, the politics of Athens were conservative, and the factions were busy with disputes, which disappointed him again. After a long period of observation of other Greek city-states and countries outside of Greece, in addition to increasing his experience and knowledge, he also felt that it was not easy to manage a city-state. Without specialized knowledge of governing a city-state, without a group of like-minded friends, not only would he achieve nothing, but he might also pay the price with his life. So after returning to Athens, with the support of his friends, Plato founded the Academy of Académie, trying to cultivate a group of people who understood philosophy, science, and governance through it. Through them, he could change the status quo of Athens and other Greek city-states, and indirectly realize his political ideals.
It had been five years since the establishment of the academy. Not only did many young people in Athens become his students, but gradually, some young people from other countries came to study under him, and the Academy of Académie gradually became famous.
At this time, Plato said in a calm but magnetic voice, "… Yesterday, I talked about why I think the governance of the ancient era is the best system of government. Today, I will talk about why such a government declined."
The young people immediately perked up and listened attentively.
"Although the legislators of the kingdom always try their best to give the rulers of the city-states the best comprehensive education, so that they are full of wisdom, able to use the true knowledge they have learned to distinguish things, and to adopt the right behavior. However, just as the growth and development of animals and plants are affected by time, human marriage and childbearing are also restricted by time. The legislators of the city-states can't always rely on sensory observation and rational thinking to always correctly choose the best time for the rulers of the city-states to bear children. Sometimes they make mistakes, and some children are born inappropriately …
The rulers chosen from these degenerated descendants can't be the best. After they take over the power of their fathers, they will despise the people who love wisdom in the city-states, despise music education and physical training, so that the young people in the city-states become more and more uneducated … So, they and their descendants gradually lose the qualities that a true ruler should have, and lose the ability to distinguish between gold, silver, copper, and iron. And when iron and copper are mixed with gold and silver, it produces imbalance, inconsistency, and disharmony. Once disharmony and inconsistency appear, it will lead to war and hatred … "
The students fell into deep thought.
After a while, a student asked: "Teacher Plato, do you mean that … inappropriate marriage, the mixing of bloodlines, and the loss of purity are the main reasons for the decline of the kingdom?"
"Auleas, your understanding is very correct." Plato praised the student and then said: "Once a conflict occurs, the two groups within the rulers will show different directions of development. The copper and iron groups tend to be private, annex land and houses, and collect gold and silver treasures; while the gold and silver groups, because they have true wealth in their hearts, still tend to be virtuous and traditional. These two groups struggle with each other, and then reach a certain compromise … So they privately own the land and houses of the city-states, and turn their former friends and providers into frontier people and slaves … This leads to the creation of a new regime, which is what I call the regime of honor. "
The students were deep in thought.
A student asked doubtfully: "Teacher Plato, how can we achieve a suitable marriage?"
"That's a good question, Hypsippus. You've stumped me." Although Plato said so, he said with a smile: "In fact, even the gods can't achieve a suitable marriage, otherwise there wouldn't have been so many powerful monsters in ancient times. But after thinking about it for a long time, I have my own understanding of this problem. I have also elaborated on it in the book 'The Republic', which is to let the outstanding marry the outstanding and have children at the best time.
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