Chapter 192: Theonias Rugby Competition (I)
After leaving the market, Tios saw that rows of stables had been built on the roadside, long gone from the crude and messy sight filled with horse dung.
Tios had a good impression of the old coachman, so he wanted to ride in his wagon again, so he began to shout loudly, “Solikos! Solikos!….”
“Hey, the old man is rich now, so he no longer drives his wagon, get on my wagon instead!” Yelled someone.
“Stop talking nonsense, or else I will beat you up!” Solikos said it with a smile.
Tios got on the wagon and said where he was going.
“Oh, you are also going to see the land that will be leased out?! There are so many people who have come to visit it recently!”
Tios nodded and said with a smile, “I heard that you have made a fortune?!”
“They are just spouting nonsense, it’s just that, after paying off the loan and interest of the wagon, I bought another wagon and rented it to a freeman, because I believe that I can soon pay off the loan again! And then I will buy another one….” Solikos said with confidence.
“Congratulations!” Tios then praised him, “It seems that in another year, you will be a wagon merchant.”
Solikos laughed when he heard it.
“I remember that you are a Theonian citizen. The union should have given you an ‘allocated land’. If you are here to earn money by driving a wagon, then what will happen to your land? I heard that there are agricultural officers in your union, who are responsible for supervising how the citizens utilize their land.” Tios asked curiously.
“I have rented it out to a freeman to farm, so there won’t be any problems.” Solikos replied.
Solikos drove the wagon on the Thurii-Amendolara road, then the wagon sped up on the Sybaris plain. On both sides of the road are houses built on the thousands of farmland.
‘They are finally building villages!’ Thought Tios: The development of the new Thurii is very rapid and has begun to gradually recover its former prosperity and it is even completely different from the former Thurii, and might even surpass the powerful city-states in Magna Graecia!
After crossing a wooden bridge, the wagon then passed the vineyards and wineries, which is the famous wine producing area in Magna Graecia.
After crossing the Saraceno river, they finally entered the territory of Amendolara. The land to be leased is on the side of the road and has already been partitioned into pieces of land for rent with a stick inserted on each land. The lands are close to the main road, which made transportation convenient; The land is also close to the river, which made it convenient to provide water for the workshop; It is also close to the forest, which have a lot of trees to be cut(Theonia Union naturally has strict rules for cutting down trees). In addition, after building the workshops on the leased land, they can also build a house for themselves and for their employees to live on, so that they can have a place to rest while they are doing business in Theonia. There is the sea in the front, forest at the back, river on the side, and a road for easy travel. This is an ideal place to live! He believes that every foreign merchant who wants to rent here has the idea of building a workshop and a residence at the same time. Twenty years is enough for them to double their investment, provided that Theonia Union still existed.
After several ideal lands, Tios wanted to find a place to rest first, because the so-called “auction” would not be held until tomorrow.
At this time, Solikos suggested to him, “You have come just in time today. The arena in Thurii was completed yesterday, and in order to celebrate it, Lord Davos announced that a ‘A rugby competition for the four cities will be held in the arena today and tomorrow!’. If you are free in the afternoon, you can go and have a look. I heard that it is very exciting and is even more lively than the competition in the Olympics!”
“Rugby?” Tios was curious and puzzled.
“It’s a game invented by Lord Davos. I heard that he got the idea from Hades!” Said Solikos.
“It is…it is…the game where two teams compete for a ball made of cowhide and shaped like an olive…uhm…and score….I don’t know how to describe it. Anyway, people who have seen this game say that it’s very interesting and fun! You will know it after you go see it.”
“Alright, I will go and take a look.” Tios became interested due to the strong recommendation of Solikos.
“Then you should go early, I heard that because there are so many people, you won’t be able to enter if you are late!” Solikos kindly reminded him.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The arena is located in the east of the northern part of Thurii. It is close to the port of the city and far away from the main area of the city. It was built here in order to not affect the daily life of the people of Thurii.
The city guards, who are usually strict in their inspection, are relatively lax today. As long as they do not carry weapons, they will basically let them enter after they count the number of people. However, if the number of people exceeds the specified number, then they are prohibited from entering the city.
Tios was lucky to enter the city because he had come early. While on his way, he met a Cretan merchant, Dicaeapolis, who was engaged in the olive oil business. He also came to watch the rugby matches. He had seen one in the morning and was fascinated by this novel game. In his words, this is the best gift given to the Greeks by Hades, and no sports can match it!
This aroused the interest of Tios even more.
At the entrance of the arena, a long line has formed. Although there are many people, they still abide by the order under the supervision of a group of soldiers.
At this time, Dicaeapolis let Tios guard his place while he went to a nearby shop that has a “beer” sign on it. He then picked up two jars of beer and two bags of dried fruit and gave half to Tios.
Tios was too embarrassed to say thanks, and had instead asked, “How much is it?”
Dicaeapolis said, “It’s fate to meet you here and watch a rugby game together! If you pay, then it means that you don’t like to be friends with us Cretans!”
So, Tios had no choice but to accept it, and he became more fond of the frankness and zeal of Dicaeapolis. At the same time, he noticed that many people went to buy beer, drinks and snacks.
Dicaeapolis then told him, “Because the match is long, and we have to watch it under the sun, so it is easy to become thirsty and hungry. In addition, there are a lot of spectators entering the arena, in case they want to pee and can’t find a place, then this-” he held up the liquor jar in his hand and said with a teasing smile, “After emptying it, you can then use it as a urinal….”
The guards at the entrance of the arena allowed a group of people to enter and then another group after a while. When it was finally their turn, the arena was obviously not full yet. The guard then signaled that they could enter and follow the passage on their right hand side, while on their left side was another passage, but they could not go in because it led to the seats for the distinguished guest. Almost all the arenas were designed in this way.
The arena of Thurii is not very large, all the stone benches around the arena can seat about 4,000 people at most. In fact, more than 4,500 people have entered the arena, and half of them are freemen and foreigners. Like other arenas, its sports field is surrounded by a track field, but inside the track field is a flat rectangular sandy land, which is divided into several areas by dozens of white lines.
Dicaeapolis patiently explained the rules of the game to Tios and told him why it was called the Four City Rugby Competition, “The four cities are Amendolara, Thurii, Nerulum and Laos. Listening to my Theonian friends, this game was first played by Lord Davos as part of a military training, starting with those mercenaries who became citizens of Amendolara….later, Thurii and Amendolara united to conduct military training for the citizens of Thurii and the preparatory citizens. Naturally, they learned this game as well…afterwards, after they captured Nerulum, the first batch of Lucanian soldiers then taught the Lucanians of Nerulum about this game….as for Laos, it was when they sent a large number of labors to help build the roads, with the Theonians as the foreman. During their break, the Theonians taught the people of Laos how to play this game, in order to prevent them from being too exhausted due to work.
It might be due to Laos having just started to learn the game, but they were not skilled and it seemed that they didn’t cooperate well. Therefore, when they played against Thurii in the morning, they easily lost. This afternoon, the match would be between Amndolara and Nerulum. I heard that the strength difference between the two sides is not big, so it might be interesting to watch!”
“You seemed to know a lot!” Exclaimed Tios.
“It’s because it interests me that I naturally want to understand it.” Dicaeapolis said with pride, “I have been here for some time now and I have made friends with several citizens of Theonia. One of them is also a platoon captain of their so-called Legion, and he told me that….”
“Why is there no Roscianum?” A voice then came from the side.
Dicaeapolis turned his head and saw that some people had gathered around them.
“It might be because they have less contact with the citizens of the Union and have no chance to learn….” Dicaeapolis shrugged, “However, this morning, I saw some Roscianums watching the game, and I believe that after this competition, the next time it will be held, I am sure that it will become a five city rugby competition.”
“Cretan, you are right. We Roscianums will join next year!” Someone in the crowd shouted.
“Agree, we will make suggestions to the council once we go back!” Another echoed.
Dicaeapolis winked at Tios and whispered, “You see, I am right.”
Suddenly, a salpinx sounded and the athletes began to enter.
At this time, the players were not crudely dressed as they were when they were playing rugby in the military camp. Now, they are all wearing fluffy leather caps that could cover their whole head and neck, and a thick protective clothing made of wool and linen, and are also dyed red and blue to distinguish them, and they even have strange symbols embroidered on the back of their protective clothes in order for the referee to identify the players. (Author’s Note: It is actually Arabic numerals, it is because Greek numerals are so complicated and are not easy to use.)
As the players from both sides entered the field, a strong and rhythmic drum beat rang out.
The red team immediately formed a neat phalanx formation to match the beat of the drums, and with vigorous strength, they danced the dance that praised Ares when winning on the battlefield in a neat movement….then came the warm cheers from the audience.