v9 Chapter 203： Hades Main Arena

"I think you hope to be favored by a certain Dionian princess and become the son-in-law of King Dionian." His teammate snorted dissatisfiedly.

Siriteos not only did not refute, but seriously said in a low voice: "Unfortunately, according to the news that I have heard, the princesses of the Royal Family of Dionia are already married, and there is no chance! But if they can be The minister's daughter is also pretty good! I said you will work hard to stay in the Kingdom of Dionia!"

Although in the previous Greek Games, women were forbidden to watch the games, but the anecdote of choosing husbands-in-law through the games still happened occasionally, and it was a good story. For example, the former tyrant of Athens, Pisitratu, once let his daughter disguise and enter the sports venue to choose the ideal husband-in-law. And Siriteos is handsome, tall and well-proportioned, and indeed is likely to be favored by Dionian women.

The person next to him was a little moved when he heard it, and fell into fantasy for a while.

"It seems that you are going to perform well in tomorrow's game." McGades put the plate on the table and sat opposite Siriteos.

"I'm sure to perform well, but I'm not sure if I can advance." Siriteos said dejectedly, but his expression was very calm: "I have observed it in the training room these days. The traditional race is strong. The players sent by Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Ellis are very strong this time. Fortunately, this time Dionia has completely changed the way of racing. Everyone is not very comfortable. I still have a chance.

And even if I was eliminated in the 100-meter race, I still have meters in the race, and I often showed up on the field a few times, and the chances of being favored by the ladies of Dionia are more likely. "

Mecca Kiddes is a bit dissatisfied with Siriteos's attitude of not fighting with all his strength but focusing on how to get the heart of the Dionian woman, but Siriteos is a nobleman after all, and he dare not criticize it. , Had no choice but to eat.

"I heard from the management of the stadium that Dionia will hold a grand ceremony tomorrow, which is completely different from the opening of the previous sports games. I really want to see it sooner!" Siriteos' sigh made McGillard. Si froze for a moment: Yes, Dionia can provide such comfortable accommodation and rich food to the athletes. What kind of surprises will it bring to all athletes and city-state representatives at the ceremony tomorrow? !

Mecca Kiddes is also full of longing.

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The Hades main arena is the first arena since the establishment of Dionia. It is located in the east of the center of Turriy. It is the venue for the final finals of the Kingdom Rugby and Football Finals every year. In order to satisfy The increasing demand of the spectators of the game, it has undergone several large-scale reconstructions and expansions, the most recent one occurred in the two years after King Davers announced the hosting of the games, and now its architectural structure and appearance have been decades ago It was very different when it was first built.

The entire venue is almost a huge circle with a height of about 42 meters, covering an area of ​​more than one square meter, and can usually accommodate nearly 60,000 spectators. It is not only a mecca for players and fans, but also one of the architectural wonders of the Turíy region.

In the early morning of July 2, 365 BC (the 29th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), a bustling flow of people gathered from all sides to the Hades main arena. At the same time, 69 entrances to the Hades main arena were opened at the same time, and only one entrance was temporarily closed, which was a passage for members of the royal family.

Ticket inspectors and inspection teams were in their respective positions, and even the Turiyi City Hall applied to the Ministry of Military Affairs to transfer four reserve teams from the Turiyi Barracks in advance to help maintain order outside the arena.

Under the guidance of volunteers and guides, tens of thousands of spectators turned into a trickle, leading to every entrance. Many spectators from all over Greece handed the tickets to the ticket inspectors with a little nervousness. Because in the past games held in mainland Greece, they never have to pay to watch the games. This is their first time buying tickets. They feel both novel and a little nervous: Does such a strange piece of paper work?

But for Dionian spectators, it’s only natural to buy tickets to watch the game. They have implemented it for decades. Every year, Turíy and other areas in the kingdom can only be brought to the city hall by the ticket money Little income, and the tickets for this games are made of a kind of fine and blue thick paper newly developed by the Christoya Chamber of Commerce. It is almost impossible for anyone to forge it. Just write all the tickets on the game, It took nearly a month for dozens of scribes in the Chamber of Commerce to place, date, and seat number.

The ticket inspector mainly checks the authenticity of the ticket and whether the information on the ticket has been altered. After everything is confirmed, he will invite the audience to enter with a smile.

After passing through the entrance, the audience must reach the number of floors specified on the ticket, and then give the ticket to the ticket inspector at the entrance of that floor again to enter the auditorium (the Hades main arena has 4 floors in total, each floor The prices are different. The first floor is mainly for the elders, ministers, VIPs, and citizens and heroes who have made outstanding contributions to the kingdom. The fourth floor is for standing tickets without seats, and the price is the cheapest).

"It's so troublesome for the auditorium to enter the arena!" Effikratus found his seat according to the seat number on the number plate, and started complaining as soon as he sat down: "I think we Athenians are already good at calculating. I didn’t expect the Dionians to be more stingy than us, and they would charge for watching the games. It’s really unheard of!"

Callistratus, who sat down next to him, said a few words of justice for Dionia: "This is understandable. They provide all the envoys and athletes with free accommodation and rich meals. Food, this can cost a lot of money, so it is understandable to earn some money by collecting tickets. I just asked the conductor when I entered the venue. The price of the tickets is not high. The cheapest is only three drachmas. The most expensive is only 10 drachmas (tickets for each envoy are given by the Turiyi Town Hall, no need to pay), even the poor should be able to afford it."

"Cheap is cheap, but you can see how many people can sit here! This game, Dionia can get hundreds of thousands or even millions of drachmas at least, and how many games they have to play throughout the Olympics... Dionia can earn a huge fortune by holding a sports meeting!" Effikratus shook his fingers and estimated Dionia's sports income.

"Why, are you tempted?" Callistratus said jokingly: "Would you like to make suggestions in the council, and learn from Dionian, and start charging in future Pan-Athena Games?"

Efekratus really thought about it, and then shook his head and said, “I’m afraid this won’t work. Let’s not say that the Pan-Athena Games does not have a tradition of charging, and the public cannot accept it. Not to mention that our arena is open. It’s very difficult to restrict people’s free entry and exit."

"To build such a huge and complex arena in Athens, money and manpower alone are already unbearable for us, not to mention that the construction technology it requires is probably not available to us now."

Callistratus scanned the entire venue with a cautious look, and finally couldn't help but exclaimed: "Even if we build such an arena, the number of spectators it can hold far exceeds the number of citizens of Athens ( The number of citizens of the city of Athens is generally kept at people), I am afraid it will take a long time to make a profit, so, such a huge building, such a charging method... only like Dionia with strong national power and huge Only a country with a large population can do it!"

Iphikratus was silent He was dissatisfied with Dionia before. As the adopted son of the former king of Macedonia, Amintas, he wanted to lead the rescue during the Macedonian rebellion four years ago. However, he was dissuaded by the General Athenian Executive Committee and had to ask Dionia, the leader of the Greek League, for help. As a result, when Dionia sent troops, his righteous brother Alexander had already been killed, and after the suppression of the rebellion, Dionia did not allow Macedonia to join the Greek alliance, but formed an alliance with Macedonia alone... The Niya are selfish.

Neither he nor Callistrapus have been to Turri. This time he came as a member of the Athenian Envoy. It was a real experience of the great prosperity of Dionia, far from what Athens can compare. Some other thoughts in my heart were basically dispelled. At this moment, he was still a little dissatisfied and said: "The key depends on whether Dionia can run the sports meeting, otherwise it will be useless no matter how well the arena is repaired!"

Callistratus understands some of the psychology of his colleague. He was also unwilling for a period of time after the end of the Greek War, but as Dionia's hegemony in Greece became more and more stable. As more and more Ionian city-states (islands in the Aegean Sea) joined the Greek alliance, Athens’s expansion from the sea has been blocked, and due to the alliance with Dionia, Athens’ trade channels Greatly widened, the domestic market became more prosperous, commercial taxes increased significantly, the treasury became richer, and citizens enjoyed this peace and tranquility. The situation changed, and Callistratus also refused to oppose Dionia. thought.

He didn't continue to talk about this topic, but pointed to the side and said in surprise: "Look, Agassilaus is here too! I thought he would not come to this sports meeting before."