Chapter 181 Rebellion in Asia Minor (Repair)
But the Temple of Zeus in Olympia is one of the oldest and most magnificent temples in the Mediterranean. The Olympia Games is the oldest Greek Games. Since it has it, the Greek world has its own year (taking the number of Olympia Games as the year). The sports meet is also the most participants and the widest range of city-states it participates. Olympia and Delphi have always been Greek cultural symbols that link the Greek city-states spread throughout the Mediterranean.
Logically, Crotokatax would use the same method as Delphi to appease Olympia, but Olympia worshipped the god Zeus, while the Dionians firmly believed that Hades was the king of the gods. The two had a fundamental opposition, which determined that this would never be a visit with gentle breeze.
You should know how to deal with Olympia, Davers once sent an order personally. After reading it, Clotokatax found it difficult to accept it. Patrocros once expressed his willingness to implement this plan on his behalf. After two days of painful thinking, Prince Dionia finally decided to go there himself, because he remembered the sentence written in his father's letter: "...As a king, he should not only enjoy flowers and wine, but also bear the infamy and defamation when necessary. Through the road to prosperity and strength of the kingdom, it has never been smooth sailing. Iron and blood are essential!..."
Olympia is located in the southern part of the Elis region, at the intersection of the Alfios River and the Cladeos River. In its holy land, except for the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Hera, the priestly houses and a meeting hall for representatives of the city and states and winners to gather and celebrate, the rest are places for competition. There are no villages inhabited by civilians. The lush growth of sycamore trees, olive trees, willows, and pine trees in the open space between buildings, making it full of mountains and wilderness. When there are no large sacrificial activities, Olympia seems to be sparsely populated, giving people a feeling of isolation from the world.
The troops who followed Crotokatax to Olympia more than doubled than when they were in Delphi. More than half were the former Blackrosh who came from Mesenia and Lagnia. They surrounded Olympia in a row, full of murderous intent.
Crotokatax forced the priests of Zeus to gather, and put on a fierce look, threatening them that other city-states have confessed that the war they fought against Dionyha was deliberately instigated by the priests of Olympia, so Dionyha came to hold the priests of Olympia accountable for the war, unless they were willing to promise that they would no longer declare Zeus as the king of gods, and would be willing to nominally accept the supervision of the main temple of Hades, the holy king of Dionyha.
Then they will be relieved of their guilt, and will continue to serve Zeus as a noble priest, and continue to preside over the Olympian Games. Otherwise, they will be charged with the crime of war criminals, deprived of their priesthood, and expelled from Olympia. No city-state of the New Greek Union shall be allowed to take them in (originally, Davers asked Crotokatax to execute the Olympian priest who refused to cooperate to achieve the effect of killing one to warn a hundred, but the kind-hearted Crotokatax changed it to expel).
Zeus is the king of all gods, but the priest Zeus in Olympia is not only not strong, but is also often angry. In order to gain control of Olympia, Elis and Pisa often fought wars, and they also asked the priests of Olympia to come forward from time to time to express their opinions. They were like fences, supporting whoever side was strong, and immediately changed their words once the situation changed.
The same is true when hosting the Olympian Games. In the past, when Elis had conflicts with Sparta, Elis used his identity as Olympian owner to expel the Spartan players and did not allow them to participate in the competition. The priests dared not object. Soon after, Sparta led his army to Olympia, expelled the Elis people, and then announced that "all the competition results before the re-suming of the sports meeting were invalid." The priests also said that it was... Such ridiculous things have happened many times in the past.
It is precisely because of understanding these situations that Crotokataks dared to accept this task, because he felt that the Olympian priests who had been compromised for a long time in such an environment should not have many hard bones.
His judgment was not wrong. Except for the young priests who were expelled because of their firm opposition, the other priests chose to surrender.
Since then, Delphi and Olympia, the two major holy places in Greece, have also been dominated by the Holy Kingdom of Dionys, just like other Greek city-states.
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On this day, Timothus led a fleet to patrol the near east coast. After returning to Tel, he found that the envoy of the King of Persia was waiting at the dock.
"The king wants to summon me?"
"Yes, the king has important things to discuss with you!" the messenger said solemnly.
"What is important?" Timothus couldn't help asking again.
"Don't ask too much, hurry up and go with us to meet the king!" The messenger urged impatiently.
Timothus looked at the messenger who looked arrogant and the team of Persian royal guards wearing gorgeous armor behind him, holding their heads and chests. He couldn't help but complain: The pure Persian nobles all looked annoying, and regarded the Greeks as barbarians.
Timothus lived in Persia for many years and was used to it. Although he was a little confused, he still followed the envoy to the residence of the King of Persia without hesitation.
The place where the Persian king's residence was in Damascus east of Phoenicia, but not in a certain town, but in the camp, with thousands of troops gathering here. The lively and noisy scene no longer exists, because hundreds of thousands of Persian main troops were far away from this place and had been fighting in Egypt for nearly two months. Only the Persian king and his royal palace relatives and followers, and ministers continued to stay here. Although there were the most elite 10,000 undead troops here to guard it, it still seemed too rare compared to this huge camp.
At first glance, Timothus couldn't help but think: If the Egyptians sent a surprise soldier to bypass the main Persian force and raid here, a fire could burn it to ashes.
Timothus quickly suppressed this strange thought, because they had approached the center of the camp, guarded by strong and well-equipped Immortal Army, who always looked at everyone who attempted to enter the camp with suspicion. Even if there were envoys to guide the way, Timothus was allowed to enter the Persian king's residence after several strict inspections.
The Persian king's tent stood like a house in the center of the camp. Its appearance was magnificently decorated, and the Persian king's flag was erected in front of it - a golden eagle.
The King of Persia often hosted guests in the tent. Timothus once participated in the sumptuous food, graceful dancers, and beautiful music... but it was memorable. But Timothus was still a little uneasy at that time, and felt that the King of Persia was a little too optimistic about this war. It seemed that he could quickly conquer Egypt by personally expeditioning.
Timothus's premonition was correct. The battle lasted for nearly two months, and the huge army had been blocked on the east bank of the Nile River, and the navy's warships had not yet found a chance to break through the fortresses and water gates at the estuaries of the tributaries of the Nile River and enter the core area of the Nile Delta.
At this moment, he heard the roar from the big tent and felt uneasy: Could it be that the Persian king called him here this time because he had not achieved any great results in his two months as the commander of the fleet?!
The more Timothus thought about it, the more guilty he felt, and even felt that the court guards outside the tent looked at him with a strange look.
"Great King, Navy Commander Timothus brings you!"
"Tie me this Greek who was trying to rebel!" Artaxerxes roared, and the guards who had prepared immediately pressed Timothus to the ground, tied it into a rice dumpling, and dragged it to Artaxerxes.
Attempting to rebel?!... Timothus became a prisoner in a daze and could only panic and shouted unjustly.
"Unforgivable?!" Artaxerxes roared: "Ariobazenis raised an army and rebelled. He had planned it for a long time, so he asked you to bring so few troops here to deceive me! I am so blind, and even appointed you as the commander of the Persian fleet! As a result, you deliberately delayed the war and wasted two months of time, but gave the rebellious enough time to prepare! Damn Greek barbarians, I trust you so much!..."
Artaxerxes became more and more angry as he spoke. He stepped forward and kicked Timothus to the ground: "Drag it out and chop it!"
The guards stepped forward and pulled Timothus's hair and dragged it outward.
Timothus endured the pain and cried out sadly: "Ariobazenis hurt me!"
He knew that there was no possibility of survival, so he simply cursed: "Artaxerxes, you are a foolish and incompetent king. No wonder your brother wants to usurp the throne and your ministers want to rebel. As long as you are in power for one day, Persia will never be peaceful!..."
"Kill him quickly! Kill him!..." Artaxerxes was furious.
A moment later, Timothus's head was presented, and Artaxerxes was still angry and said with hatred: "Cut off his hands again, and send someone to Ariobazenis with his head!"
This was done because Artaxerxes remembered that he had dealt with the body of his younger brother Cyrus, who was so angry that he loved Cyrus and became seriously ill.
He even believed that the rebellion in Asia Minor was caused by his younger brother, because his father appointed Cyrus as the military commander of western Persia. As a result, Cyrus, who was good at winning the hearts of the people, not only used Asia Minor's financial resources to hire a group of Greeks to fight for him, but also gained the support of governors and nobles in almost all regions of Asia Minor, so he had the confidence to compete with him for the throne.
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Chapter completed!