Chapter 258

The Greek soldiers on the stage seemed to have heard the shouts. They immediately put on their helmets, picked up their round shields, tied on their red cloaks, and formed a tight phalanx to counter the enemy’s attack…

However, there were too many “Persians.” They swarmed forward, completely surrounding the warriors. Cavalry galloped back and forth on the periphery, archers continuously shot arrows into the sky (all with blunted tips), and the infantry let out strange, wanton laughter…

The audience could only catch glimpses of dazzling red and the roaring of the warriors through the gaps in the “Persian” encirclement.

The drumbeats became denser and louder…

The Greek phalanx retreated step by step under the “Persians'” attack, looking like they were about to be pushed to the edge of the square…

The attention of the common people was completely drawn to the tense scene on the stage. Someone anxiously shouted, “Fight! Greeks!”

This resonated with the entire audience.

“Fight!!! Greeks!!!…” The audience also began shouting loudly.

Just then, the high-pitched singing sounded again. “Hades” had unknowingly stood at the front of the platform, slowly waving his trident…

The surrounded Greek soldiers suddenly let out a unified and powerful roar: “Ho! Ho!! Hades!!! Ho!…” A dozen military horns sounded in perfect time.

The “Persians” began to retreat, finally scattering…

The red phalanx of the Greek mercenaries was completely revealed to the audience. To the strong rhythm of the drumbeats, they marched forward with neat, powerful, and uniform steps, charging forward like a wall of iron…

This made the people present excited. Even those who hadn’t seen Theonia’s military training or participated in it, as well as the esteemed guests, were captivated by the power and beauty displayed by the soldiers on the stage, cheering and shouting loudly.

The “Persian General” lagged behind and was dragged off his horse by “Davos,” who charged ahead. He stepped on the “Persian General,” raised his long spear, and pierced the “enemy’s” chest with exaggerated yet highly infectious movements.

“Davos! Davos!! Davos!!!…” The people spontaneously erupted in thunderous cheers.

“Lord Archon said he would let us see a completely different temple celebration, and he really did it!” Marigi, standing behind the platform, scanned his colleagues in the Senate with various expressions and exclaimed loudly.

“Yes, it is a very different celebration! Lord Davos, afraid the people would forget his past heroic deeds, does not forget to promote himself even on such a sacred occasion!” Polyexis said sarcastically.

Kunogelata and Cornelius exchanged glances, not speaking, but feeling a little uneasy.

“He truly did it! Didn’t you notice! This is going to be a new kind of drama, a drama unlike those performed by one or two people, but a performance by hundreds or thousands of people to recreate spectacular historical scenes!…” Anxitanos, on the other hand, was so excited that he was gesturing wildly and becoming somewhat incoherent. Davos had inspired him.

The beautiful chorus, the musical accompaniment, the nearly realistic fighting and performance of hundreds of people… truly greatly shocked the onlookers, even the senators of the Senate.

“I look forward to the next performance!” Mersis sincerely praised. This reminded him of his time in distress in Persia. His words were the common sentiment of the former mercenaries.

Only Amyntas curled his lips and muttered, “The battle scene was too fake!”

“Didn’t Anxitanos say? This is acting, not real combat. Look at those excited people. Davos is using this performance method to tell them about our heroic deeds!” Antonios whispered, criticizing Amyntas.

“The one playing Davos should be Olivas, right? He acted quite well! Ledes, playing the Persian General, wasn’t good; he was like a block of wood!…” Epitenes’s interested commentary drew the former mercenary senators into the discussion.

Next, “Hades” guided the mercenaries to Magna Graecia. The Lucanians invaded Thurii, and the mercenaries defeated the Lucanian coalition…

Vesba, Hermon, and other Lucanians watched the square with apprehension.

Evidently, Davos had considered their feelings. The harm the Lucanians once caused to the Thurians was only briefly mentioned. Instead, the focus shifted to the final scene: Under cheerful and enthusiastic singing and drumming, “Hades” had “Davos” lead the Greeks and Lucanians to reconcile. They wrestled, sheep-fought, drank wine, and embraced each other, finally holding hands and forming a large circle, with “Hades” standing in the center. Everyone sang the Hymn to Hades, swinging their arms and kicking their legs, continuously expanding and contracting the circle. The atmosphere was extremely enthusiastic, attracting the people outside the venue to participate, and the Hymn to Hades resonated throughout the city…

Hades, as the Lord of the Underworld, was rumored to be dark, cruel, and feared, thus far less popular among Greeks than main gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Apollo. Kanios’s attitude towards Hades was similar to other Greeks, so he was greatly surprised when he heard Theonia was making Hades the patron god of the city-state alliance. But having been distracted at first, he was now captivated by the brilliant performance in the square and surprisingly developed a favorable impression of Hades, involuntarily joining in the chanting of the Hymn to Hades with everyone.

Not only him, but even the Lucanian chiefs who previously only worshipped the mountain god Asinu asked bystanders for the meaning of the lyrics in their awkward Greek, and some even started humming along. Compared to the enthusiastic participation of the vast majority of Theonia’s people, the invited distinguished guests from the South Italian Alliance had various thoughts. Some even wished Theonia would make a fool of itself during the ceremony, like the Crotoniates.

But at this moment, Lysias, the First General of Croton, equally shocked by this unprecedented religious ceremony in Greece, sighed, “It seems the worship of Hades might truly take root among these Theonians.”

“We Greeks in the Western Mediterranean mainly worship Hera and Apollo. Only these savage outsiders in Theonia would worship the dark Hades!” Ascamas said indignantly. His friend Milon had been exiled for losing to Theonia, and he already harbored some resentment. Moreover, Croton had the most magnificent Temple of Apollo in Magna Graecia, often visited by Greeks from other city-states for worship. Therefore, although he was impressed by the performance in the square, he still complained with confidence, “Look, it’s almost noon, and the weather is so hot. When will they let us see the Temple of Hades?!”

“Yes, my legs are almost numb from standing!” Another Crotoniate general’s seemingly joking remark caused a stir among the distinguished guests.

“Dong!!!…” A profound, elongated bell toll suddenly sounded, shaking the hearts of the people who were feeling lost after the performance ended.

“Look, the Temple of Hades!” Exclamations rose continuously from the crowd.

In the northwest of Victory Square, on the hill behind the Senate House, the building that had been half-covered by numerous scaffolding and large linen cloths in the morning now fully revealed its true appearance under the blazing sun: a towering, grand white structure, sparkling brightly!

Praexinas led the way, followed by fifty white-robed priestesses. Senators of the Senate, esteemed guests from various city-states, people from the north side of the square, people from the south side of the square… under the orderly guidance of the soldiers, people slowly advanced toward the Temple of Hades…

The bronze bell continued to toll unhurriedly, each sound clearer and deeper than the last, calming the people’s sense of urgency.

The Temple of Hades also came closer, becoming clearer in the eyes of the people: this was a very unique temple. Its height was no different from other temples, but its length was twice that of the largest Temple of Apollo in Croton, the largest in all Magna Graecia. More importantly, as the location of the city-state’s patron deity temple, it was traditionally also the center of the city-state, to be surrounded by walls and protected, becoming the acropolis of Thurii, just like the former Temple of Apollo in Thurii. However, there were no walls on the slope ahead. Instead, stone steps were built from the east, west, south, and north sides, allowing convenient direct access to the temple.

Antaoris, who had only recently joined the Senate, curiously asked Cornelius, with whom he had gotten along well recently, “Why doesn’t this new temple have walls?”

Cornelius answered seriously, “This was Lord Davos’s suggestion. He believed that not building walls would allow the people to freely make offerings and pray at the temple, demonstrating Hades’ universal love for the people of Theonia!”

Davos was the God’s Favored One of Hades and the High Priest of the temple. Generally, no one would object to his proposals regarding the Temple of Hades. Antaoris looked at the temple ahead. Century-old tradition still left him doubtful: “But in that case, Thurii won’t have an acropolis!”

Cornelius sighed, his expression becoming a little strange, and said, “Lord Davos insisted on not building another acropolis in Thurii. He said something once—” Speaking of this, the usually gentle Chief Executive of Amendolara’s tone gained a hint of firmness: “‘The various cities in the Theonia City-State Alliance are the walls of the League, and Thurii is the acropolis of the League. Theonia does not need a superfluous acropolis!'”

Hearing this, Antaoris was stunned: Taking cities as walls?! Viewing the entire region as a city?!… A surge of boldness rose spontaneously in his heart. The image of the young Archon emerged in his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel admiration: What kind of breadth of mind and spirit is this! No wonder he could establish a powerful city-state alliance!

People ascended the steps. At about 30 meters from the temple, the citizen soldiers formed a circular cordon. People stood outside the line, and the entire hill was teeming with people. Except for the white spot at the top, it had almost become a “mountain of people.”