Cipros continued, “Now that Niutum and Grumentum, two towns that once belonged to the Lucanians, are part of the Theonia City-State Alliance, many Lucanians have become Theonian citizens. So how can Lucanians from other tribes genuinely hate Theonia! On the contrary, with your Elea’s help, Theonia can completely take advantage of the weakening power of the Lucanian tribes to occupy the entire Lucanian region, greatly strengthening Theonia’s power. Therefore, why wouldn’t Theonia ally with Elea!”

Kanios fell silent, pondering every word Cipros said. After a long while, he said, “If Theonia becomes powerful, won’t the other city-states belonging to the South Italian Alliance be afraid?”

Cipros hadn’t fully emerged from his excitement. He drank heartily and said without hesitation, “No matter what other city-states think, I believe Theonia’s strength is a good thing for Elea. We are tired of the frequent wars between city-states and the incursions of the Brutians. The stronger Theonia is, the more peace it can bring to this land. After all, judging from Theonia’s past actions, it has always been friendly to its allies, unless you actively infringe upon it. It is far less brutal than Syracuse to the south!”

Kanios understood what Cipros meant by “brutal.” After conquering the Greek city-states in Sicily, Dionysius sometimes even massacred local residents and turned all remaining captives into slaves. No one had ever done this before in the history of the Western Mediterranean, greatly shocking the Greeks in Sicily and Magna Graecia, so Kanios could hear about it even from far-off Elea. He looked at Cipros across the table, thinking somewhat maliciously: Is Dionysius’s brutality one of the main reasons why these South Italian city-states are willing to ally with Theonia?

He asked curiously, “Since Theonia’s political system is so peculiar, the South Italian city-states, including Terina, must have noticed it, right? Has any city-state tried to implement these bills that are beneficial to the city-state’s expansion?”

Cipros was taken aback, then gave a bitter smile. “At today’s celebration, I briefly discussed this topic with a few Croton Council members I know. It’s basically impossible. First, do you think all city-state citizens would agree?”

Prompted by this, Kanios suddenly realized: How could the conservative and xenophobic citizens of Greek city-states allow outsiders to share the city-state’s wealth and rights! And the highest power organ of the city-state—the Citizens’ Assembly—is composed of the majority of city-state citizens. They would never allow bills that disadvantage themselves to pass!

“Why can Theonia implement it then?” Kanios raised his question.

“This…” Cipros gently tapped the table, thinking, “I can’t explain the detailed reasons clearly, but the immense power and prestige held by Davos, the Archon of Theonia, are undoubtedly the most important reasons.”

Kanios also agreed with this point, but an Archon like Davos would never appear in Elea.

“However…” Cipros looked at Kanios and said hesitantly, “An emerging city-state alliance like Theonia still has some issues…”

“What issues?” Kanios asked eagerly.

Cipros looked back. He didn’t know when the restaurant waiter had stood behind him. He shook his head and stopped talking.

***

The next morning, the completion ceremony of the Temple of Hades continued.

This time, the ceremony was held in front of the temple, presided over by High Priest Davos, who granted freedom to the slaves within the League in the name of the Lord of the Underworld, Hades.

Since this was the first time the ceremony was held, not many slaves were released, mainly League public slaves who had performed outstandingly in the past year. Most private slaves released came from Davos’s own household.

With the expansion of the Theonia City-State Alliance’s territory, Crystoia’s bank and restaurant were also rapidly expanding. At the same time, she was continuously developing new commercial channels, such as Crystoia’s shop, which mainly sold school supplies for the newly established Theonia School, as well as rugby, football equipment, etc. For this, she bought a large number of slaves to ensure sufficient labor while also granting freedom to slaves with excellent performance. One reason was to use them as examples, giving hope to other slaves and motivating them to work harder. The other reason was that Davos, as Archon, set an example, guiding the people to treat their own slaves kindly, to ease the conflict between slaves and their masters and the whole society within the Theonia City-State Alliance.

Among the slaves released by Davos was Crystoia’s personal maid, Asuna. Asuna had previously told Crystoia that even if she gained freedom, she was still willing to continue serving Crystoia as a hired worker. Crystoia naturally welcomed this very much. In fact, apart from the change in status, Asuna’s lifestyle was not much different from before, including receiving a salary, as Crystoia had started paying her close maid long ago.

Because household slaves spent a long time with their masters, a kinship-like affection often developed between them. Therefore, stories of masters releasing slaves before death or slaves continuing to serve the master’s household after gaining freedom were not uncommon. Only for the liberated slaves of Theonia, they had one more thing they must do as soon as possible: immediately apply to the League household registration officials for preparatory citizenship.

After the slave emancipation ceremony, the joyful celebration began.

A play funded by the League and free for the public to watch would be continuously performed for three days at the newly built theater in Thurii city. If this were in Athens, countless people would queue to grab tickets and rush in to enjoy it. But in Theonia, especially in Thurii, people were more interested in the Theonia Rugby Games. Last year, the rugby tournament, which only involved four cities—Amendolara, Thurii, Niutum, and Laos—attracted countless eyes. This year, Crimisa, Castellum, Asprostum, and even Grumentum, which had just joined the League, also formed teams to participate (mainly composed of soldiers from the Third Legion who migrated to Grumentum). The expansion of participating teams made the competition fiercer, and the opening ceremony was also more formal.

Distinguished guests from the city-states of the Theonia City-State Alliance and the South Italian Alliance were all invited. After the entire arena was full, loud bronze horns resonated through the stadium. Players from each city lined up in order and marched around the field.

The people cheered enthusiastically, especially when they saw the players from their own city.

Amyclas clapped vigorously when the Castellum players marched past the main stands and said loudly to the people around him, “Look, those are our Castellum players! The one walking at the front is Georgis. Look how strong they are, like a herd of Lucanian bulls!”

The people around let out friendly laughter.

Antaoris, Eurikleides, and Plaedes, the three Crimisa senators who had just entered the Senate, didn’t understand why the Chief General of Castellum was so excited. Kunogelata smiled and quietly explained to them, “When the rugby game was held last year, we invited Castellum too, but Laos participated, and Castellum did not. So many people joked, ‘Castellum people are inherently timid and weak, daring not to participate in such a fiercely physical man’s game.’ It seems those words really stung them. They specially formed a team this year to prove themselves, and even their General Georgis is playing in person.”

For the three who had never seen the game before, they couldn’t yet understand the enthusiasm and frenzy displayed by the Theonian people, but the fervent atmosphere around them also infected them. Like other city-state guests, they applauded the players parading on the field.

Then, they saw the team representing Crimisa. Because the wooden sign held high by the leading player was engraved with the dazzling red letters “Crimisa,” most of the faces in the 50-plus-person team were unfamiliar.

Antaoris knew: over the past few months, Theonian citizens and preparatory citizens had been moving to Crimisa due to land allocation, so even though they had joined the Theonia City-State Alliance for a short time, this team’s skill level might not be too bad.

Antaoris also saw a few familiar faces in the team. Like the other players, their faces were full of excitement. While chatting intimately with their teammates, they continuously waved to the audience outside the field. These few, who were formerly Crimisa citizens and had now become Theonia citizens, had naturally integrated into this team in just a few months.

Antaoris’s mood was complex for a moment.

“Lord Antaoris, I look forward to seeing the Crimisa players’ performance.” Kunogelata’s meaningful words brought Antaoris back to reality.

“Don’t worry. They will definitely perform better than Castellum,” Antaoris said, feigning ease. Several people laughed.

The eight teams finally stood still in the center of the field.

At this moment, Davos stood up from the viewing stand. The previously boiling arena gradually quieted down.

The distinguished guests of the South Italian Alliance were all shocked and envious: Davos’s immense prestige among the Theonian people was evident!

Davos’s voice resonated within the arena: “Centuries ago, the great God Zeus created the Olympiad, and intense competition replaced bloody fighting. Wars between Greek city-states decreased, and peace increased! And a year ago, the great Lord of the Underworld Hades brought us rugby. Since then, rugby has flourished in the Theonia City-State Alliance. People gain health, find happiness, learn unity, and win friendship in this fierce sport! Today, the most excellent players of the Theonia City-State Alliance and its allies gather here. To thank Hades for his gift, they will hold the most exciting and fiercest rugby competition to vie for the sole championship! Fight, players! Hades bless you!”