Silsitas sighed: "The last time the messenger of Agosilaus came here to ask for an oracle, he also made a request to me, 'I hope that when the rival city-states of Sparta come here to ask for an oracle, we can quietly tell the Spartans what they are asking for......"

"And that's not all." Patmos, who was in charge of the Holy Treasury, said angrily: "After Polybiadas left the temple, he went to my place to go around, and he said intentionally or unintentionally, 'This time their expedition to Northern Greece consumed a lot of supplies, and they also owed the salaries of more than a thousand mercenaries in the team'......"

"The Spartans are so arrogant!" Kabatas, the priest in charge of the Pythian Games, shouted angrily: "We must teach them a lesson to dispel their ambitions for Delphi!" ”

"A lesson for Sparta? It is now the overlord of Greece, backed by the Persians. If it is provoked, it will be even worse for us in Delphi......" Patmos said with some concern.

At this time, the main priest Sitarsis said the thought that he had been thinking about for a long time: "Who said that we are going to fight Sparta head-on!" We can invite a powerful power to join the Holy Alliance to balance Sparta's absolute dominance in the Alliance. ”

The priests' eyes lit up.

Patmos thought for a moment and said, "Then who is better to invite?" Macedonia? ”

"Macedonia!" Kabatas snorted: "The Spartans went on an expedition to Northern Greece to help Macedonia. The Macedonians were grateful that Sparta was too late, so how could they fight it! What's more, although the territory of Macedonia is vast, it does not have enough strength, and even the barbarians cannot defeat it, so how can it fight against the powerful Sparta! ”

At this time, another priest, Cletimany, let out an "oh" and said hesitantly: "The only Greek force that can fight against Sparta now is Dionia...... Are we going to invite it? ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kabatas raised his voice: "No! No way! Dionya was a barbarian kingdom, not a Greek power at all! ”

"How can the Kingdom of Dioonia be a barbarian state? Last year's and this year's All-Greek Congresses of Scholars were held there, and many scholars visited Turiyi, and they all praised the academic atmosphere there. What's more, the Turii, Tarantum, Lokrie, Siritin, Crotone, Lijim, and Catanay under the Dionian Kingdom...... More than a decade ago, these cities were famous Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, and they contributed a lot of gold and silver to the Delphi Santa Treasury every year......" Crytimmeni defended.

"The Holy Alliance has never had a tradition of inviting any of the Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean to join, as they are all colonies." Kabatas remained opposed.

Chrétimeni sighed: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is not decades ago, everything depends on the strength of the city-states, traditions have long been broken one by one, and the covenant of the Holy Alliance also says, 'It is not permissible to destroy any of the city-states in the alliance.'" But do you see that there are few examples like Sparta's destruction of Mandinia and Platia! And Dionya is the most powerful Greek state in the western Mediterranean, and probably the most powerful force in the entire Greek world, even the Spartans have taken the initiative to negotiate the alliance with Turiai many times, and only by inviting Dionya to join the alliance will the domineering Sparta be afraid and restrain their behavior. ”

Cretimeni's words made everyone think.

Patmos was embarrassed and said, "Even if we were to invite Theoria to join the Holy Alliance, would Dionya agree?" You must know that over the years, like Olympia, we have been as adamantly opposed to Dionia's participation in the Games, and because it has never offered gold or silver to the Treasury of Delphi, but has secretly preached the barbarism of Dionia, hoping that the Greek freedmen will not emigrate to Dionia......"

The priests all looked unnatural, and they had done all these things.

"Dionya held Hades in high esteem, causing fewer and fewer Dionians to come to Delphi to ask for oracles...... If this continues, I am afraid that the Greeks of the entire western Mediterranean will treat Delphi as nothing. ”

His words resonated with the priests, and they began to complain.

At this time, the chief priest Sirsitas spoke: "It seems that you have all decided that the Greek country you want to invite is Dionia. As for the issue of the Temple of Hades, I don't think you need to worry, I have learned about the Temple of Hades in Dionia, although it is very important in the hearts of the people of Dionia, but the Temple of Hades does not seem to be very important in divination and oracles, and this is precisely the field that we Delphi is good at, and it is the only field! Sirsitas accentuated his tone.

He knew very well in his heart that the reason why Hades was able to develop so quickly in Dionya must be the impetus of the powerful king who claimed to be a "descendant of Hades", and Delphi should not be stupid enough to brush other people's tiger whiskers: "Delphi and the temple of Hades do not conflict with each other, and I think that Delphi's centuries-old oracle tradition will make the troubled people of Dionya want to be guided by Apollo." And we can also guide the Greek freedmen who are struggling to go to the Italian peninsula in search of a new life......"

"Even if Dionia is willing to join the Holy Alliance, I'm afraid Sparta won't agree to him joining, after all, we only have the right to suggest, not the right to decide!" Patmos reminded.

Sirsitas sighed, "That's what I'm most worried about. I heard that in the covenant between Dionya and Sparta, there was a treaty that 'Dionya shall not be involved in the affairs of the Eastern Mediterranean'. Although this shows that Sparta was afraid of Dionia, it also proves that the Spartans were full of wariness of Dionia, and Sparta would definitely oppose Dionys's entry into the Holy Alliance. ”

"But the Holy Alliance does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of other city-states, it is just an organization that protects Delphi, and I don't think Sparta will react so violently." Crétimmeni relieved.

At this point, Sirsitas came up with the idea he had already thought of: "My suggestion is...... Can we send someone to Turriy quietly to negotiate with the king of Dionia, so that they can take the initiative to make a request to the Holy Alliance, and we will privately contact Athens, Corinth, Argos, Megara and other city-states that have a gap with Sparta, so that we can put pressure on both sides, I believe that Sparta cannot be considered carefully......"

When all the priests heard this, they all thought it was a good idea, and not one of them objected, 'What if Dionya is unwilling to join the Holy League?' For it seemed to them that Dionya must have been overjoyed to receive an invitation from Delphi, the holy land of the Greeks.

Patmos looked at the Pythias, who had been closing his eyes and recuperating, and asked respectfully, "What did Apollo's oracle say about this incident?" ”

The oracle of Apollo must have been consulted beforehand for such an important matter, and it would not have been possible to raise it at a council of priests if there was no hope of success at all.

All eyes were on the Pythias. The old woman, dressed in girlish attire (this dress was required by the temple of Apollo, she was a symbol of chastity), opened her cloudy eyes and sang in her hoarse and low voice: "O scorching sun,

is draining its brilliance,

Falling beneath the mountains,

The dark night has fallen,

Clusters of roaring bonfires,

Shine it like day,

……”

While the priests pondered the profound meaning of this oracle, Sirsitas said, "Since Dionyas is the patron saint of the kingdom to Hades, the lord of darkness, I think the oracle of Apollo is saying, 'The sun represented by Sparta is about to fall, and Dionyas will take its place.'" As for the bonfires, I haven't figured it out yet, maybe it's referring to another new power......"

The oracles are always obscure, just as the gods themselves are inscrutable. The fact that the priests were incomprehensible for a moment did not affect their execution of the matter, for it seemed that at least the general direction was right......

……………………………

Last year's summer fever killed a Spartan king, Agosipolis. This summer has been a huge test for Dionia.

At the Dionian Palace, King Davers, Minister of Commerce Marigi, Minister of Finance Mersis, and the five rotating presidents of the Senate all listened to the report of the Minister of Agriculture, Burkos, with solemn expressions.

"In fact, last year, there was less rain in spring and summer than before. And this year, from February to July, there has not been a single rain in southern Italy for more than 5 months, Lucania, Apulia (this area includes Mesapi, Puchetti and Dauni), Greater Greece, Bruti these areas are facing serious water shortages, such as the Sisno River, the Saraceno River These small rivers have basically bare riverbeds and become small streams, such as the Cratti River, the Ramato River, the Neto River and other large rivers are also narrowing and the water level has dropped......

If it were not for the widespread use of waterwheels, there might have been a large area of wheat seedlings dying in the plains of Xubari, Croton, Euferemia, and Cosenza, but if this drought continues for a month, I am afraid that by the autumn harvest in September, the entire southern region will have a serious crop failure. Judging by the current situation, the possibility of such a bad situation happening is very high! ……”

"It's not just a grain failure. After such a dry weather for so long, the grass in the mountains has died, and many of the livestock fed by the herders have died! Veesper lamented.

"I remember the last time there was a drought in southern Italy was 25 years ago. The kingdom and the people have benefited a lot from these years, and I am afraid that many people have not taken any precautions against this! Lucias said with a solemn expression.