Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 193: Theonias Rugby Competition (II)

Then the sound of the drum beats vanished, then came a long and powerful horn sound.

The blue team members also began to dance enthusiastically in a loose formation. Their movements were weird and unrestrained, and were filled with primitive wildness, which had made everyone become excited….

When the horn sound stopped, the two teams then lined up and earnestly greeted the audience, the cheering in the arena continued for a long time….

Tios became interested by this new and unprecedented opening that had made him to not hear Dicaeapolis clearly.

“Tios, which team do you want to win?”

“The blue team!” Tios answered without thinking, the blue team's wild war dance had caught his eyes.

“You want the Lucanians to win?!” Dicaeapolis was a bit surprised.

“The blue team is the team of Nerulum?!” Tios had only suddenly realized that their dance movement was out of the ordinary.

“The competition information is posted at the entrance of the arena. Didn't you read it?” Dicaeapolis then stressed, “I support Amendolara! Many of its citizens are from Crete, which also includes my friends*.” (Referring to the soldiers of the seventh brigade of the first legion.)

At this time, the players from both sides turned around and faced the seats of the distinguished guests. Amidst the commotion, Tios saw a man standing on the seats of the distinguished guests.

“He is the one and only archon for life of Theonia Union, Davos!” There was awe and jealousy in the voice of Dicaeapolis.

But that wasn't the case for Tios, instead, he has a strong urge to see the legendary favoured of the gods with his own eyes.

He then saw Davos swung down his right hand, then the rapid and sharp salpinx sounded in succession, then the match started.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Lord Davos, there are a lot more people that have come to watch the game this afternoon than in the morning. According to the report of the guards who were in charge of allowing the entree of the people at the entrance, many of them were merchants from various city-states.” Marigi then excitedly added, “It seems that your plan to attract the rich people from the surrounding city-states to Thurii for consumption with wonderful competitions is quite possible!”

Mersis was also excited, “I just went to the arena for a walk and the beers, juices, and dried fruits were almost sold out. And we have even managed to sell a lot of hats and linen cushions!”

“It is mostly due to rugby being too fascinating!” As the praetor of Thurii, Kunogelata was also one of the persons in charge of the competition. He had participated in the preparation work from the aspects of organization, publicity, security and safety in accordance with the instruction of Davos. He personally developed the planned rugby competition into this current situation, and he was also shocked, “Lord Davos, I think the rugby games can be held regularly in the future and we can charge a fee for it. It would be like watching a play.”

“Will the money from the tickets go to the state treasury?” Mersis hurriedly asked.

“Of course, it belongs to the state treasury, but the salaries of the players and the pensions of the injured players should be paid in order to encourage more people to actively participate in the sport. The rest of the money will be use to prepare for the construction of more arenas in Amendolara and in Nerulum…Kunogelata, Cornelius, Marigi, Alexius and Mersis you need to form a rugby athletic committee to discuss how to further promote rugby and attract more foreigners to watch and formulate a more detailed and perfect plan and to quickly implement it. After rugby becomes popular in Magna Graecia in the future, we can also host a rugby tournament in Magna Graecia, and invite the teams of various city-states to participate!….”

The words of Davos have inspired Kunogelata: There are four Games with great influence in the Greek city-states in this era. The Olympic Games held by the city-state of Elis in the Peloponnesian Peninsula is the oldest and the most sacred, which was mainly to honor Zeus, and the temple of Zeus in Olympia is the holy land of the Greeks(one of the seven wonders of the ancient world); The Isthmian Games held by Corinth was mainly dedicated to Poseidon; The Pythian Games held by the famous temple at Delphi in Greece is to celebrate Apollo, the sun god; There is also the Nemean Games, which are held by the Argives who claimed to have the noblest royal blood in ancient times, the Nemean Games is also to honour Zeus. In addition, there is also the Panathenaic Game to honor Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, and also the Panathenaic festival held by Athens is equally influential. Moreover, it is not only a sports competition, but also music, poetry, plays and other kinds of competitions. Whenever these celebrations are held locally, famous people from all over Greece gather there, and the eyes of all Greeks are focused on there, winning a great reputation for the host city. If the rugby game were to develop well, then holding a large-scale panGreek rugby match to honor Hades, will not only expand the influence of Theonia Union, but will also make Kunogelata famous in history and gain the favor of the gods.

Seeing that they were in a trance and having shortness of breath, Davos vaguely guessed what they were thinking: In the ancient history, the Roman's Gladiator Games was famous throughout the Mediterranean, but his Theonia Union does not need such a bloody, cruel and inhumane savage events to entertain the public, nor to inspire the people's warrior heart. Theonia can do a better one! Besides rugby, they can also hold basketball in the future….ah, basketball might not be good because the requirements for the ball are too high. Can the current technology even do it?….while Football may be possible. Davos then thought about going back and asking the leather tanner, Tulkas, to try it….

“SCORE! A TOUCHDOWN SCORE! Good job Tagetinos!” Amintas and Matonis, who were watching the game, excitedly yelled and clinked their mugs to celebrate.

“Buy me another beer.” Said Amintas to the slave attendants.

“Master, the beer outside are all sold out.”

“No more?!” Amintas immediately turned around and exclaimed, “Lord Davos, your beer is a great drink, but there are too few!”

Davos smiled bitterly, it seemed that he needed to expand the brewery again. While thinking of it, he thought of another matter.

“Everyone!” Davos then said out loud, “As you all know, my wife has recently bought the hot spring swamp area north of Thurii.”

Burkes was the first to nod his head. As the chief agricultural officer, he himself handles the land sale process. At that time, he also advised Cheiristoya to, ‘In addition to a few hot springs in the area where the mosquitoes breed, you can neither farm nor build houses there. So don't waste money in buying them.’

“I am going to build a large-scale hot spring bath there to attract the merchants in Magna Graecia and the Theonia people to soak in and have a rest, because it involves the drainage and filling of the swamps, the area of the hot springs, diverting the Tiro river, and the construction of the baths….which all needs a large investment. Are any of you willing to cooperate with me to invest in this hot spring bath?” Davos sincerely invited the statesmen.

Soak in a bath?! The Greeks of this era did not have the habit of the ancient Romans who liked to take a bath. They lived a simple life and didn't like to take a bath. If their bodies were too dirty, they would just put olive oil on their bodies, then scrape them with special tools and then wash them with water. Therefore, there are many statesmen who are hesitant about this new thing.

Marigi, who has enjoyed the luxury life of Persia, was the first to shout, “ME! I want to invest!” Marigi had often discussed with Davos about the trade development of the union, so he naturally knew about the young archon's ability in business. Among his other businesses like the Cheiristoya's bank, restaurants and breweries are so prosperous, and all their success is due to Davos.

“I! I, as well!” Mersis was also someone who understood the talent of Davos in business.

“I will also invent some money as well.” Kunogelata and Cornelius said successively. As the two praetors who often discuss the city-state management with Davos, they certainly have some understanding of the talent of Davos.

“We will also join.” The officers of the former mercenaries, such as Hielos, Matonis, Amintas, Antonios, Alexius and so on, have blind trust in him.

In addition to several Thurian statesmen, such as Burkes and Ansitanos, who are willing to put in a small amount of money to show their support, the others, such as Bolus and Enanilus, have made it clear that they are not optimistic about it.

The Amendolaran statesmen such as Scambras and Stromboli, originally did not believe that the hot spring baths could profit, but they had instead chosen to support Davos, whom they regard as an Amendolaran, because of the disapproval of the Thurian statesmen.

Vespa didn't understand any of it at all, but he knew that he was in absolute disadvantage in the senate, so he could only follow Davos.

Davos originally raised the matter about the funds for business purposes from the statesmen in order to tie their interest together, and to also promote harmony in the senate, and yet, it became a demonstration of the statesmen attitude towards him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tios kept his gaze on the field, the game was indeed very exciting, which was beyond his imagination.

He originally thought that whether this kind of ball games will be similar to a kind of stone ball throwing game in Sparta, but now, it seems that it is completely incomparable.

Dicaeapolis supported the team of Amendolara, but he doesn't know why he feels that Nerulum would win from the bottom of his heart, even though the current score is 3:0, and Nerulum is behind.

Tios was a bit anxious and inwardly cheered Nerulum.

Now, it is the turn of Nerulum to attack. The red team obviously cooperates with each other well and knows how to use tactics. They cut off the passing line of the player of the blue team who was currently holding the ball, and forced him to the foul-line, then two red team players rushed forward. The player of the blue team no longer has any room to dodge, so he could only throw the ball from his crotch to the rear before being knocked down. The quarterback of the blue team was fast and quickly caught the ball, then two more red team players immediately trapped him….

Just when Tios yelled, “Crap!” The quarterback of the blue team made a lunge and used his strong body to clash with the player of the red team who had come up to stop him and made him go unsteady, then the quarterback threw the rugby ball hard.