Isocrates waited anxiously in a large lounge inside the council hall for the final decision of the Ionian Senate.

Soon after, the guards came in and invited him to the venue.

When he walked into the venue, he found Davers, the Archon of Dionia, standing in the center of the venue.

Davos smiled at him and motioned for him to sit down, and then Davers smiled at him and said, "Venerable Athenian envoy, I am glad that you have brought the great Mediterranean city-state of Athens to the friendship of the Dionian League, so that we, in the remote corners of the Greek world, stop continuing to mourn ourselves, because in the new play "The Dionians" by the Athenian playwright Aristophanes, we Dionians are treated as barbarians for the amusement of the Athenian people......"

As soon as these words came out, Isocrates secretly exclaimed, "It's broken." ”

Sure enough, he heard someone behind him shouting, "What right do the Athenians have to humiliate us Lucanians!" ”

"They are not just humiliating the Lucanians, they are humiliating all the citizens of Dionia!" Another man shouted angrily.

"If the Athenians look at us like that, then the Athenians are not welcome here!"

……

One angry voice after another slammed into Isocrates, who was sitting in front of him, making him feel as if a volcano was about to erupt behind him, and his face changed slightly.

Davos looked at his embarrassment and continued: "Isocrates, you said that Athens and Dionya had a deep friendship, and this cannot be just words, but needs to be seen in actual actions. And now, as far as we know, the actual situation in Athens makes us not see the friendship of the Athenians with Dionia, but only the merciless ridicule and ridicule of the people of Athens about some characteristics of a new city-state alliance that are different from other Greek city-states, and can even become the talk of the town of Athens for several months in a row. Nor is it the behavior of a city-state that professes to have affection for Dionya and wants to ally with it!

Therefore, the citizens of Dioonia would not be comfortable handing over their backs to a discriminatory city-state in the face of a strong enemy. Therefore, I think it is too early to talk about the conclusion of a military alliance. ”

Damn Aristophanes! Damn Aristophanes! Isocrates' countless curses in his heart could not change the reality of the failed alliance, and in frustration, he wanted to stand up and try to make a final effort.

Davers in front of him waved his hand at him, signaling him not to interject, and then said: "Although the current Turiyi is no longer the Turiyi it once was, and the Dionian Alliance has no connection with Athens, but the Dioonians are by no means an ungrateful race, we have clear grievances, we repay the hatred given to us by others tenfold, and we repay the kindness given by others tenfold——"

"Your Excellency is right! Tarantom had allied with us in our difficult times, so we sent a great army to save their city-state! Turii once gave your mercenary a foothold at the beginning, so in the face of the crush of the Crotone army, we did not give in, but avenged the dead Turriyi with a great victory! Dionya regards commitment as life and cherishes the friendship that is given, so friendship cannot be lightly promised! The old man, Scombras, shaking his gray beard and holding his head high, glanced at Isocrates obliquely, and put on a haughty look of "Dionia's friendship is extremely precious, and it is really cheap for you."

Davers smiled and continued: "Since the center of the Dionian League is in Turiyi, we have naturally inherited some of the feelings of the former Turiyi people, and we are willing to have friendly exchanges with Athens and strengthen exchanges to eliminate misunderstandings between us......"

When Isocrates heard this, he understood what Davers and the other senators of the Senate meant: Dionyas was willing to be friendly with Athens in addition to a military alliance. The strengthening of trade and cultural exchanges does not seem to be much different from the core meaning of his previous speeches.

But Isocrates understands that the difference is obvious, if Isocrates originally came to talk about cooperation as an Athenian big brother, but now the Diocrates trampled the elegance and nobility in his bones, and instead told him: Diocrates' friendship is extremely precious, and he can give a little to Athens, but it depends on the performance of Athens......

It is not easy for this young man to sit in the position of consul and single-handedly create today's Ionia! Isocrates looked at Davers in front of him and felt the pressure......

………………………………

While Isocrates was giving a speech in the Dionian Senate, Ansitanos led Lycias to the north side of Victory Square, where there was a newly built building that looked like a temple on the outside, and at the bottom of the steps were bronze statues of nine muses, lined up.

"Is it the Temple of Apollo?" Lysias looked at Ansitanos suspiciously.

Ansitanos still smiled mysteriously, but he just didn't speak.

With increasing curiosity, Lysias walked up the steps, and finally found several large letters "Library" on the lintel of the entrance to the temple.

"What is this?" Lysias could roughly guess what the building was for, but such a large building was only used for books? Are there so many books?

He looked at Ansitanos again, puzzled, hoping he could explain.

"This is the library that our Archon Davers took the lead in donating!" Ansitanus proudly pointed to those words and said, "He once said, 'Books are the jewels of human wisdom, whether it be Persia, Egypt, Carthage, or before Sumer, the Hittites, and Assyria...... The history and civilization they created are ultimately gathered in words and books, it is the common wealth of our mankind, and it is the ladder for us to get out of ignorance and move towards a more splendid civilization, so we must make every effort to collect them! Protect them! If these treasures were destroyed by war and disaster, it would be the worst loss for humanity! But we not only want to collect books, but also to share and read these books for more people, so that the people of Dioonia can use knowledge to improve themselves, use knowledge to create wealth, and use knowledge to create a more brilliant culture, which is the meaning of building a library! ’”

When Lysias heard this, he was fascinated and muttered, "Whoever can speak such a great language must be a great man!" ”

Ansitanos smiled secretly.

"Take me inside!" Lysias couldn't wait to get in, but was stopped by the guards at the door.

"This is my friend, he came with me, and he wants to go in and have a visit." Ansitanos hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

"Yes, Lord Ansitanos." The guard saluted respectfully.

"Where knowledge is stored, there is still force!" Lysias said angrily as she walked inside.

"Books are precious and fragile, and a single fire can destroy them all, and of course someone needs to be guarded to prevent accidents." Ansitanos explained.

Lysias expressed his understanding, and he said again, "It seems that no one can enter here. ”

"Only Ionian citizens and reserve citizens are allowed to enter."

"In this way, the freedmen of Dioonia have one more incentive to become citizens." Lycias had been here for nearly two days, and had learned how great the disparity in rights was between the citizens of Dionia, the reserve citizens, and the freemen, but this gap was not indispensable, unlike Athens, where no matter how hard he tried, he could not cross the chasm between Athenians and Gentiles.

"I'm afraid there are forty or fifty thousand Dionian citizens in Turiyi, and if they all flock to this library, will they be able to accommodate it?" Lysias asked, confused.

"We've been thinking about your concerns for a long time. First, the quality of the citizens of Dionya has not yet reached the point where everyone can read; Secondly, they could not be here at the same time, even if there were too many citizens who wanted to enter the library, the library had a limit on the number of people, but now it seems that this situation will be many years later. By then, perhaps Dionia will already have a second, third, or fourth library......" Ansitanos' words were filled with confidence in his alliance.

Lysias was silent, but he was soon drawn to the sight: rows of tall wooden cabinets neatly arranged in the building, cutting the vast space into a walkway for only three or four people to pass side by side. Each wooden cabinet is open, divided by strips of wooden panels into small rectangular spaces, in which rolls of papyrus or parchment are assembled to hold books or materials. In front of these bookcases, there is an area with many wooden tables, and only a few people sit there reading quietly.

Lycias, who was a bookish lover, looked at it with straight eyes and couldn't help but say, "There are so many books!" ”

"Actually, there aren't many, most of the bookcases in the back are empty, after all, the library has only been completed for less than 20 days." Ansitanos said with some emotion: "Master Davers once called on the citizens of Dionya to take out their own collection of books, let the library copy a copy, and store them here, and also engrave the names of the citizens who donated the books. At that time, there were so many citizens who responded to the call that the library scribes were too busy......"

Looking in the direction of Ansitanos' finger, Lycias saw several stone monuments erected to the left of the entrance to the library, which he had only looked ahead and had ignored.

The stone monument is densely engraved with people's names.

Lysias noticed that only the first name was followed by the title of the book: "This...... This...... It's—" He stroked the title in disbelief.