Iphiclates followed the direction of his finger, and then a sympathetic look appeared on his face: "He must have arrived in Turii yesterday, so we didn't see him in the hotel." He was also pitiful, his son, who had been badly wounded in the Greek wars, had died of illness last year, and the Spartans were well-limbed, simple-minded fools who could not fight the cunning Periasians and the Helots who had the support of Mecelias and Arcadia in the new Spartan government (some of the Spartan Helots had migrated to the Tegurian territory to which Mandia belonged, and thus had good relations with Mandinia, who was the leader of the Arcadian League), So at the age of almost 80, he continued to attend the New Spartan Council......"

"If it weren't for his constant travel, we'd have forgotten the Spartans." Callistratus sighed, "What a respectable old man! ”

Agosilaus did not know that there were two acquaintances not far away talking about him behind his back, and the reason why he had only arrived yesterday was because he had been sick before, and his health had just improved, and he had rushed to Turriy despite the doctor's dissuasion, how could he give up such a good opportunity to meet King Davos in person, in order to obtain some benefits for the Spartans. And in order to fulfill his long-standing wish, before he died, he took a look at Dionia, which he had been trying to deal with for decades.

Yesterday when the passenger ship arrived at the port of Turiyi it was already dusk, and when he came ashore, he was already exhausted, and when he got ashore, he got into the carriage sent to the port by the town hall of Turiyi to pick up the dignitaries, and when he got into the carriage, he fell asleep and did not enjoy the scenery of the city of Turiyi.

This morning, when he was led into the main arena of Hades by his guide, he was still shocked by the huge structure, despite the countless large scenes he had seen in his life. He looked up like a frog at the bottom of a well could only see the small circular piece of sky above the tall building, but the boiling sound of the gradually filling auditorium made him feel small.

He has participated in the four major games in Greece, and he has led troops to interfere with the holding of the games several times, but it is the first time he has seen such a grand competition venue, and he was seriously looking at this special venue when a voice came from next to him: "Agosilaus, it's a pleasure to meet you!" ”

Agosilaus looked back, but it was the current military governor of Piosia, Peropidas, and standing next to him was also an acquaintance who made Agosilaus remember deeply, Ipamironda.

Peropidas smiled, and Ipamironda, though calm, nodded to him.

Agosilaus twitched his face a few times, calmed his face, and said coldly: "I'm not happy to see you! With that, he turned around and ignored the two of them.

It is not surprising that Agesilaus had such a reaction, because he had been regretting for several years that Sparta should not have started the Theban War, otherwise it would not have ended up in the terrible situation it is today. And it was these two Thebans who led Thebes to fight against Sparta for many years, and also defeated the Spartan army at the Battle of Leuctria, how could he give them a good look.

Agosilaus's response embarrassed Peropidas slightly, he smiled self-deprecatingly, shrugged at Ipamironda, and deliberately said loudly: "I didn't expect that we are all in the same alliance now, and he is still haunted by the past." ”

"Compare the current situation of the Thebans and the Spartans, and it is strange that he can see it." Ipamironda whispered understandingly.

Before the Theban War, Sparta was the overlord of Greece, and many city-states in Central Greece had garrisons, including Thebes, and Theban government officials went to meet the generals of the Spartan garrison, groveling like slaves to their masters, not to mention ordinary people.

More than 20 years later, the real Spartans had fallen to the point of dying, but Thebes, with the strong support of Dionia, not only completely unified the entire Piosia region, but also vigorously developed Aulops and the port located in the Gulf of Corinth, and promoted maritime trade with Dionia, thus greatly improving the shortcomings of the Piosia region, making it the second largest force in the Greek alliance (the first power was the Holy Kingdom of Dionia, Athens after dissolving the maritime alliance and losing those sub-states, Both the land area and the number of citizens are lagging behind the Piosia League, but the number of people and the degree of commercial development are still higher than Piosia, but because Thebes and Dionya are closer, most Greeks think that Piosia is stronger than Athens), which greatly enhances the voice in the alliance, and also makes the status of Thebans in Greece rise sharply.

Thirty years east of the river and thirty years west of the river, the status of Sparta and Thebes today is completely reversed.

"Indeed!" Peropidas laughed heartily.

Agosilaus, who was in the front row, was very piercing when he heard the laughter, but he could only pretend not to hear it.

"Sit down, don't get in the way of the audience behind you." Ipamironda reminded him that he felt completely unnecessary for his friend's small revenge on Agosilaus. He was a man of intransigent nature, and since the establishment of the New Greek League and the domination of Thebes over the Piosia region, he had voluntarily resigned from all his positions, and if it were not for the fact that Dionia's invitation to the Piosia League specifically designated Ipamironda to be present as well, he would probably still be living in seclusion at home.

After Peropidas sat down, he looked around with interest, and then said excitedly: "Dionyas's letter of invitation to us says that they will hold a unique sports event, and I think this arena is very different, at least the Greek city-states, including our Thebes, are not capable of building it!" ”

"yes!" Ipamironda also sighed: "Do you remember the time when we were young and watched the Games in Corinth, only to see the deportation of the Dionian players? Who of us would have thought that Dionia, humiliated by the audience, would become the hegemon of the whole of Greece just over 20 years later, and invite the entire Mediterranean city-states and countries to participate in the games it hosted! ”

"This reminds me of what you said." Peropidas said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "I heard that even after Dionia becomes the leader of the Greek League, the alien athletes who have participated in various games in Dionia in recent years will still be discriminated against by the Greek people, so King Dioria is angry to hold this sports meeting and allow all races in the Mediterranean to participate, this is the bearing of a great power!" It's not like our Greek city-states that are stubbornly conservative and petty! ”

"Do you mean that these Greek city-states include our Thebes and Piosia alliances?" Ipamironda asked lightly.

But Peropidas did not respond, pointing to the side not far away, and said gloatingly: "Look, the general of Corinth is there!" I wonder what kind of mood he will be in this arena, and will he worry that the Dionian Games will overtake the Corinthian Games and become the most popular Games among the Greek people?! ”

"It's not just Corinth who will be worried, I think Alys and Delphi will be worried as well, and lo and behold, aren't their messengers all sitting there!" A voice came from beside them.

Ipamironda immediately stood up: "Good morning, Lycomedes! ”

"Good morning, Peropidas, Ipamilonda! It's a pleasure to sit with you! Lucometes raised the ticket in his hand, pointed to the number on the stone bench, and said with a sigh: "When I came to Turiy, what amazed me the most was not the sheness and prosperity of the city, but the fact that there are so many people here, but how well they can be managed in such an orderly manner!" Now it seems that this is probably because the officials of Dioonia are very careful and meticulous in the governance of the country~

You think, even the entrance to the arena (each entrance has a numerical number, corresponding to the number written on the ticket), the stone staircase (there is a wooden fence on the side of the stone staircase to prevent falling), and the seats are carefully designed so that there will be no confusion when so many spectators enter the arena. It can be seen that they have infiltrated this meticulous management into all aspects of people's lives......"

"Yes, think about the time when the previous games did not clash because of the spectators fighting for seats, those of us who are the mother state should not only be ashamed, but also humbly learn from Dionia!" Peropidas said seriously, and then politely made a gesture of invitation: "Lycometes, please take a seat!" ”

After the Greek War, the Greek native city-states benefited the most not from Thebes, but from Mandinia, who not only obtained the fertile land of the original Tegea, but also established the Arcadia League with Mandia as the main body with the strong support of Dionia, becoming a major power in Greece itself.

Peropidas once said to Ipamilunda enviously in private, "How many years have we in Thebes fought hard against Sparta in order to establish the Piosian League, and how many people have been sacrificed...... And Mandinian was just lucky to follow Dionya in the Greek war, and finally achieved this goal easily, Apollo is really eccentric! ”

However, Peropidas, who was lively and cheerful on the surface but proud on the inside, showed sincere respect for Lycometes, because he not only proposed the "establishment of the Arcadian League" for the first time, but also worked tirelessly for many years, so he served as the president of the Arcadian Union for five consecutive years (the highest position in the parliament of the Arcadian League can only be held by a Mandinian).

"I just heard you say that Dionia is going to have a sports day like no other......"