Sirsitas sighed: "The last time Agsilous's messenger came here to ask for the oracle, he also made a request to me, 'I hope that when the hostile city-state of Sparta comes here to ask for the oracle, we can quietly tell the Spartans what they ask for..."

"It's more than that." Patmos, who was in charge of the Sanctuary, said angrily: "After leaving the temple, Polybiadas went to my place for a walk. He said intentionally or unintentionally, 'This time they went to Northern Greece to consume a lot of supplies and owed the salaries of more than a thousand mercenaries in the team'..."

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

"Tell Sparta a lesson? It is now the overlord of Greece, and the Persians are supported by it. If it angers it, it may be even more unfavorable to us Delphi..." Patmos said with some concern.

At this time, the priest Sithals said the thought that he had been thinking for a long time: "Who said we are going to fight Sparta head-on! We can invite a powerful force to join the Holy Alliance to balance the absolute advantage of Sparta in the alliance."

The priests' eyes lit up.

Patmos thought for a while and said, "Who is better to invite? Macedonia?"

"Macedonia!" Kabatas snorted: "The Spartans went to Northern Greece to help Macedonia. The Macedonians were grateful that Sparta was too late, so how could they fight against it! What's more, although the Macedonian territory was vast, it did not have enough power and even barbarians could not defeat it. How could they fight against the powerful Sparta!"

At this time, another priest, Cratimeni, said hesitantly: "Now the only Greek forces that can confront Sparta are probably Dionia... Should we invite it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kabatas loudly objected: "No! No! Dionia is a barbaric kingdom, not a Greek force at all!"

"How could the Kingdom of Dionia be a barbaric country? The all-Greek scholars conference held there last year and this year, there were many scholars going to Turi, and they all praised the academic atmosphere there. What's more, Turi, Tarantum, Locre, Silit, Crotone, Lijim, and Katanai, who are subordinate to the Kingdom of Dionia... These cities were all famous Greek city-states in the Western Mediterranean more than ten years ago, and they contributed a lot of gold and silver to Delphi Sanku every year..." Cretimeni defended.

"The Holy Alliance has never invited any Greek city-state in the Western Mediterranean to join the tradition, because they are all colonies." Kabatas still objected.

Cretimeni sighed: "Everyone, it's not decades ago. Everything is spoken by the strength of the city-state. The tradition has long been broken one by one. The covenant of the Holy Alliance also said, 'The destruction of any city-state in the alliance is not allowed.' But do you see that Sparta destroys Mantinia, there are few examples of Platia? Dionya is the most powerful Greek country in the Western Mediterranean. I'm afraid it's the most powerful force in the entire Greek world. Even the Spartans have taken the initiative to negotiate covenants in Turi many times. Only by inviting Dionya to join the alliance will the domineering Sparta be afraid and restrain their own behavior."

Claytimoni's words made everyone think.

Patmos said in embarrassment: "Even if we intend to invite Dioria to join the Holy Alliance, will Dioria agree? You must know that over the years, we have been as firmly opposed Dioria's participation in the competition, and because it never worships gold and silver to Delphi Sanku, secretly proclaiming Dioria's barbarity, and hopes that the Greek free people will not immigrate to Dioria..."

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

Kabatas complained: "Dionia highly praised Hades, which made fewer and fewer people from Dionys who came to Delphi to seek oracles... If this continues, I am afraid that the Greeks in the entire Western Mediterranean will regard Delphi as nothing."

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

At this time, the priest Silsitas spoke, "It seems that you have determined that the Greek country to be invited is Dionysia. As for the issue of the Temple of Hades, I don't think everyone should worry. I have learned about the Temple of Hades in Dionys. Although it is very important to the people of Dionys, the Temple of Hades does not seem to attach great importance to divination and oracles. This is exactly the area where we Delphi are good at, and it is also the only area!" Silsitas emphasized and emphasized.

He knew very well that the reason why Hades could develop so rapidly in Dionia was definitely the push of the strong king who claimed to be the "descendants of Hades". Delphi should not be stupid enough to stroke other people's whispers: "Delphi and Hades Temple do not conflict with each other. I think Delphi's oracle tradition for hundreds of years will make the people who lead Dionia who encounter difficulties hope to get guidance from Apollo. And we can also guide the Greek free people who are in difficulty to go to the Italian Peninsula to find a new life..."

"Even if Dionia is willing to join the Holy Alliance, Sparta may not agree to him joining. After all, we only have the right to suggest and no decision!" Patmos reminded.

Sirsitas sighed: "This is my most worrying issue. I heard that in the covenant signed between Dionia and Sparta, there was a treaty about 'Dionia must not involve in the Eastern Mediterranean affairs'. Although this shows Sparta's fear of Dionia, it also proves that the Spartans were full of vigilance against Dionia, and Sparta will definitely oppose Dionia's participation in the Holy Alliance."

"But the Holy Alliance does not have the right to interfere in other city-state affairs. It is just an organization to protect Delphi. I don't think Sparta will react so violently." Cratimony comforted.

At this time, Sirsitas came up with the idea that had been thought out: "My suggestion is... Can we send someone to Turi quietly to discuss with the King of Dionia and let them take the initiative to make demands to the Holy Alliance, and we contact Athens, Corinth, Agos, Meccarat and other city-states that have a gap with Sparta. I believe Sparta must not consider it carefully..."

After hearing this, the priests thought that this idea was good, and no one raised any objection, "What if Dionia is unwilling to join the Holy Alliance?", because in their opinion, Dionia would definitely be ecstatic to receive the invitation from Delphi, the Greeks' holy land.

Patmos looked at Pitya, who had been resting with his eyes closed, and asked respectfully: "What do you say about this incident?"

For such a major thing, I must have consulted Apollo's oracle in advance. If there is no hope of success at all, it would be impossible to raise it at the meeting of the priests.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Pitya. The elderly woman in girly costume (this dress is a requirement of the Apollo Temple, and she is a symbol of chastity) opened her muddy eyes and said slowly in her hoarse and low voice: "The hot sun,

Exhausting its glory,

Falling down the mountains,

The dark night has come,

Clusters of blazing bonfires,

It shines like daytime,

…”

Just as the priests were thinking about the profound meaning of this oracle, Sirsitas said: "Since Dionyha regarded Hades as the kingdom's guardian god, and this god is the Lord of Darkness, I think the Apollo oracle is saying, 'The sun represented by Sparta is about to decline, and Dionyha will replace it. As for those bonfires, I haven't figured it out yet, maybe it refers to another emerging force..."

The oracles are always obscure, just as the gods themselves are hard to understand. Although the priests are difficult to understand for a while, they do not affect their execution of this matter, because at least the general direction seems to be right...

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Last year's hot summer killed a Spartan king Agsipolis. This summer was a huge test for Dionia.

At the Palace of Dionia, King Davers, Minister of Commerce Mariji, Minister of Finance Mercis, and the five rotating presidents of the Senate all listened to the report of Minister of Agriculture Burkos with a serious expression.

"In fact, last year, the rain in spring and summer was less than before. And this year, from February to July, the southern Italian region has not rained for more than five months. Lucania, Apulia (this region includes Mesapi, Pucheti and Doni), Greater Greece, and Bruti are all facing severe water shortages. Small rivers such as the Sisno River and the Salachino River have basically exposed the riverbed and turned into streams. Large rivers such as the Crati River, the Ramato River and the Neto River have also narrowed the river surface and lowered the water level...

If it were not for the large-scale application of water trucks, the Sobari Plain, Croton Plain, Ofemia Plain, and Kosenza Plateau might have had a large area of ​​wheat seedlings dead, but if such a drought continues for a month, I am afraid that the entire southern Italian region will have a serious failure by the autumn harvest in September. Judging from the current situation, the possibility of such a bad situation is very high!..."

"It's not just the problem of grain harvest. This drought has lasted for so long, and the grass in the mountains has also died, and many livestock fed by the herdsmen have died!" Weisba lamented.

"I remember the last time a drought occurred in the Southern Italy area was 25 years ago. In recent years, the weather has been good, and the kingdom and the people have benefited a lot. I'm afraid many people have not taken any precautions for this!" Lucias said with a serious expression.
Chapter completed!