Chapter 651
Plato was stunned for a moment before revealing a smile. "Lysias, it's nice to see you again! You've put on weight. I almost didn't recognize you. "
Indeed, Lysias was living a good life and had a successful career. He was no longer the person he used to write defense speeches and earn a living in Athens. He patted his protruding belly that was covered by the gorgeous Bolton coat and sighed with a seemingly helpless but secretly proud look. "I'm getting older, but I'm getting fatter. I can't cut it no matter how hard I try. There's really no other way."
Plato replied with a smile, "That's because your experience and knowledge will increase as you age!"
Lysias laughed after being praised by Plato. He pointed to the person next to him and said enthusiastically, "Let me introduce to you, this is the senator of Diónia and the main organizer of this' All Greek Scholars Conference ', Ansitaros."
"Could it be Ansitaros who wrote 'History of Magna Graecia'?!" Plato asked in surprise.
"'History of Magna Graecia' was written by me, but it's barely readable," Ansitaros said modestly. Ancitanos said modestly, "Unlike Plato, your 'Republic' shocked all the scholars in Greece. Even our King Devers was full of praise for your book. He said that it was a wonderful political book and praised you as the great Plato!"
Ansitaros' praise made Plato a little embarrassed. He said frankly, "This book was written by me after traveling in the Mediterranean Sea for 12 years, using the knowledge gained from observation and thinking. There are still many flaws and drawbacks, and I'm constantly improving it …"
In fact, when this book was written, it caused a lot of controversy and criticism in Athens because Plato criticized the drawbacks of the democratic system in the book.
Plato then praised, "On the other hand, the 'History of Magna Graecia' written by Lord Ansitaros is plain and rigorous in textual research. It uses time as the vertical line and the events that happened in Greece at the same time as the horizontal line. It clearly describes the history of Greece for hundreds of years. I feel that it's not inferior to Thucydides' 'History of the War of Peloponnesus'. It also allows our native Greek people to understand the difficult history of the Greek colonies in southern Italy for hundreds of years. I've already collected three copies in my library in the school …"
"You two can stop praising each other. Let's leave this place quickly. Ansitaros, don't forget that the King of Devers is still waiting to meet Plato! "Ansitaros urged.
"Your king wants to meet me?" Plato was surprised.
"Didn't I just say that King Dyvers admires you very much? The reason why he wants to meet you now is that the conference hasn't started yet, so it won't attract too much attention," Ancitanos explained.
Plato thought about it and immediately understood. He smiled and said, "That's great! I was just about to meet the amazing king who created the Miracle of Dionysia!"
Compared to the two scholars who came, there were more bystanders who recognized Plato. It was not because he was more famous at this time, but because it had only been a few years since he completed his tour of the major countries and city-states in the Mediterranean. Hippocrates and Democritus were already in their old age and rarely traveled far.
For example, the merchant Euphrates of Agrigento had met Plato when he was doing business in Syracuse and Leontini when he was traveling to Sicily. At this moment, he looked at Plato's receding back and his imagination ran wild: the famous Greek doctor, Hippocrates, the omniscient scholar, Democritus' student, the famous scholar of Athens, Plato. In just half a day, Diónia had invited three famous scholars of the Greek world. The Greek Scholars' Conference held by Diónia would definitely be a gathering of scholars. It would probably be quite attractive. Did Turií want to replace Athens and become the academic center of the Greek world?!
… …
This great philosopher and thinker was called the "father of philosophy" by the Westerners in his previous life. When the Westerners talked about political and philosophical research, they even had a consensus that "Plato is philosophy, and philosophy is Plato". Therefore, Dyvers had long been eager to meet him.
Plato also hoped to meet the young king who made a small city-state quickly rise to become the most powerful Greek power in the Western Mediterranean Sea. He believed that it would be very helpful for him to perfect his political philosophy theory if he could consult him face to face about the political mystery of "making a country strong quickly".
Both of them were eager to meet each other. Thus, they met in the King's office in the palace of Diónia.
Plato was not tall and had a strong physique. He was very different from the traditional China image of a talented scholar. As the young king who single-handedly created the powerful Kingdom of Diónia, the Devers did not have much to do with the word "handsome".
But neither of them were ordinary people. They would not judge each other by their appearance. After looking at each other, Plato first said, "Your Majesty, I came here from the port. On the way, I found that there is a big difference between the citizens of Diónia and the citizens of other Greek city-states —" He paused. Seeing the curious look on the Devers's face, he continued, "You don't have a beard. Is it intentional?"
The Devers did not expect that Plato would ask such a question. He subconsciously touched his smooth chin and said with a smile, "This is because the people of Diónia have realized that having a long beard is not a good thing in these years of life. Our militia found that if their beards are too long, they can easily be caught by the enemy and get injured or even lose their lives. After research by the doctors of the Diónia School of Medicine, they found that if their beards are too long, some small things that we can't see will grow in them and cause us diseases if we don't wash them frequently. But frequent washing will consume a lot of energy and time, so it's better to shave them completely. "
After listening to the Devers's words, Plato also subconsciously stroked the thick beard on his chin. He muttered, "So, the people of Diónia advocate practicality? For this reason, they are not even willing to follow the ancient Greek tradition? "
The Devers smiled and said seriously, "We Greeks' understanding of the environment and nature has gradually become clearer and richer with the passage of time. The scholars of the ancient times certainly can't be compared with us now, so many of their views and understandings are simple and even wrong … So, of course, we must inherit the good Greek tradition, but why should we keep the bad tradition? Just like how other city-states lock their women in their homes, we, Diónia, give more freedom and equal education to our kingdom's women. Didn't you also call for equality between men and women in 'The Republic'? … "
The Devers's words made Plato think as he listened, but he did not directly respond. Instead, he asked, "Your Majesty, since you said that you want to inherit the good Greek tradition and abandon the bad, then when you became king and turned the Union of Diónia into a kingdom, did you think that the monarchy is superior to other systems of government?"
The Devers also did not directly answer his question. Instead, he looked at him and said seriously, "I've read your 'Republic', and I don't agree with your view that only philosophers are the best rulers of a city-state. Even letting philosophers rule will only make the city-state worse! "
Plato's eyes widened when he heard this, but he quickly calmed down and asked in a serious tone, "Why does Your Majesty think so?"
The Devers said unhurriedly, "We Greeks call philosophy 'the love of wisdom'. It is a profound knowledge that explores the evolution of heaven and earth, society, and the human world. To be called a philosopher, one must put all his heart and soul into it in order to obtain his own insightful understanding of the world. It is not an easy task, so where would he find the extra time to govern the country? Look at me here — "
The Devers pointed at the mountains of letters, proposals, and information on his desk and sighed. "These are the affairs of the kingdom that I have to deal with for the day. Apart from that, I also have to gather officials for discussions and participate in the Senate's discussion of various proposals. I have almost no free time today. Even meeting you, I have to plan in advance, and that's why I only have half an hour of free time. This also means that I have to go home late tonight, or some of the resolutions will not be approved in time and will have to be postponed until tomorrow. This not only means a reduction in administrative efficiency, but it may also mean that the lives of the people in a city or a region of the kingdom will be greatly affected.
You see, to be a good king, he has no time to specialize in philosophy. He can only devote most of his energy to the complicated affairs of the city-state. The same is true for the governors of the various cities in my kingdom. Their power is equivalent to that of the rulers of other city-states. They must work diligently and down-to-earth to solve the practical problems of the city under their jurisdiction. If anyone spends their energy on studying instead of doing proper work, I don't have to replace him. The local councilors and civil officials will protest against him … "
"Your Majesty, I'm amazed by your diligence!" Plato praised first, then calmly said, "Since Your Majesty has said that philosophy is the love of wisdom, then wisdom cannot be obtained by sitting there and daydreaming. It has to be refined from practice. When you encounter a problem in dealing with government affairs, you can think about it seriously, discover the rules, and finally find a solution. You can even refine this method into a system and generalize it. Isn't this the result of applying philosophy?! … "
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