Chapter 249: Akademia of Theonia (II)
This era can’t be compared with later generations, the price of papyrus is still expensive for the commoners and is generally used for formal writing. While the children learn to practice writing mostly with sand and clay, so Patroclus had prepared a wooden frame containing sand, even though the writing in a wax wooden tablet can be stored for a longer period of time and it is also easy to carry and the price is low, but Patroclus’ parents could not afford to spend this money. As for the small foldable wooden chair, it is the masterpiece of the newly-built Cheiristoya’s school supply store and the price is cheap and had soon become popular as it got released. It is much better than the simple wooden stool made by Patroclus’ parents.
Hence why when Patroclus received the gift of Aguilas, he became so excited that he jumped so high.
“Village chief…this…this….” Periandorus, who had been strictly disciplining his son just now, was both grateful and cowered in the face of Aguilas, who was a former mercenary and has now a high prestige and didn’t know what to say.
“What?!” Aguilas stared at him, “Little Clus saved a few villages, this is the reward that he deserves! I like this boy, he is courageous, flexible and does not panic when things go wrong, and once he can read and count, he will definitely be better than you in the future!”
Patroclus’ father became so excited from hearing Aguilas high evaluation of his son that he agreed to it.
While Patroclus’ mother covered her face, as she could not stop her tears from flowing down. She remembered those hard days when she followed her husband who was working as a porter at the port and wharf, and accepted employment by helping merchants watch their stalls in the market together with her son. She was busy every day from morning to night, she not only had to endure the discrimination and demanding customers, but also had to endure the severe heat and cold that had even made her faint several times due to heatstrong, and had to compensate for the lost goods. It made her to not even know how she manage to get through those hard days….fortunately, the Theonia city-state union was established, and the great archon, Davos, was the one in power, and had made the poor vagrants like them to have the opportunity to become citizens of a city-state, to own land and houses, and to live a stable and prosperous life….
Therefore, she hopes that her son will not follow her husband’s old path, and should study well and then become a civil servant in the city-state in the future and live a decent life.
After breakfast, Patroclus placed his school supplies into his brand-new linen schoolbag, and was then led by his mother to the altar in their home. In the past, they only have a humble statue of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and Ares, the god of war. One was to hope for a good harvest and the other was to bless her husband who was a soldier in the army during the war. It wasn’t until her son had to go to school that the statue of Apollo, the sun god, was added, because this god was also in charge of art.
Under the lead of his mother, Patroclus prayed to Apollo.
Afterwards, his mother handed Patroclus four drachmae, which was the tuition fee for one academic year. Only after her repeated instructions could Patroclus finally go on his way.
It was still dawn and the curved moon was still vaguely visible in the sky. Fortunately, it was summer and he was wearing a short linen shirt and bare legs. Otherwise, the dew on the grass on the roadside would surely wet his clothes.
The cool and fresh morning wind, mixed with the smell of earth and some herbs, blew on Patroclus, making him happy and unable to restrain his excitement. He shouted twice and then heard a “Glug! Glug!” from the canal on the side of the road, which was the sound of frightened minnows. In the past, Patroclus would have taken off his leather sandals and jumped into the canal and made a mess of it, but today, his mind was already at the akademia.
He was humming a tune as he stride forward while carrying a schoolbag, wooden chair and tablet.
On the main road, the number of pedestrians increased significantly. wagons with passengers, caravans filled with goods, farmers with their livestocks….of course, there are also many parents with their children going to the akademia to sign up, and the bustling flow of people going to the city of Thurii as well as the port and market.
Davos initial plan was to build the akademia on a hillside to the west side of the city of Thurii, on the north bank of the Tiro river, where there are mountains and rivers, and a large area of wilderness which would allow for further expansion, and also allow them to build a park in the future, making the Akademia of Theonia to be the largest educational centre of the Theonia Union.
However, as the discussion with Kunogelata and the others, Davos canceled the plan for the time being. After all, the majority of students were children, not only is the north bank of the Tiro river far, but it is also a bit desolate there now, and would be too physically demanding for the children and not very safe. Therefore, the akademia was finally located in the delta area at the confluence of the Crati and Cosceli river, which is not only part of the greater urban area of Thurii, but also right in the middle of the Sybaris plain, making it easier for the children of the citizens of Theonia on both sides of the Crati river to arrive at the akademia on time.
None of the statesmen objected, because they knew that it was for the children of the citizens of Theonia, which also includes their own children. Therefore, the construction efficiency was very high, in less than half a year the walls, classrooms, school buildings and playground were built, which naturally could not be aesthetically pleasing due to it being built in such a short period of time. However, the playground for the children to play and train was large enough to accommodate all the parents who came to enroll their children today.
Thousands of people crowded in the playground, for fear of accidents happening, Ansitanos also invited patrols to maintain the order.
Patroclus stood in the line and was looking around. He then noticed that there were not many children like him who had come to enroll alone, and there were only a few children as old as him, so when a lot of curious gazes were focused on him, he felt a little uncomfortable.
At this time, there was a commotion behind the line, and the noise became more and more loud, and the people around looked back, which made Patroclus very curious.
“It’s lord Davos’ wife, Cheiristoya, and her daughter!”
“How can his daughter be so big already when lord Davos is still very young?!”
“That’s his adopted daughter, I heard that she is the daughter of Marcellus, the former archon of Amendolara….”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lord Davos’ daughter?! Patroclus became more curious after hearing the people around him. So he squatted down and looked through the gap between the crowd to see a tall adult woman, as elegant and beautiful as the goddess of beauty – Aphrodite. Next to her is a lovely girl, although she is a little shy, she also looks around quietly and curiously, and when she notices a pair of young gazes between the gaps, she doesn’t dodge it, and instead, she opens her bright eyes and gazes back at him.
Patroclus then quickly and shyly avoided her gaze.
“Madam, please come to the front!” It was not only out of respect for Davos, but also out of gratitude to Cheiristoya, because her bank has helped many families, hence why so many people are willing to give up their place.
Cheiristoya expressed her thanks, but she politely declined. As the wife of the most powerful person in the Theonia Union, the intelligent Cheiristoya has always placed herself as an ordinary person in public, in order to not give any chance to the political opponents of Davos. She had originally intended to let Azune accompany her daughter if it was not for the fact that today’s enrollment is very important to Cynthia. For this reason, she had specifically wore a simple dress in order to try to keep a low profile while accompanying her daughter to school, and the result, it has still caused some commotions.
Finally, order was restored and enrollment continued.
It was finally Patroclus’ turn. Under the gaze of the staff, he said his name and his parents’, and handed over the certificate issued by Aguilas.
According to the enrollment rules of the Akademia of Theonia, only the children of official Theonian citizens can enroll. This was partly to reduce the pressure on the akademia and to control the number of students; more importantly, it is to let foreigners and slaves who worked in Theonia to know that only when they become official citizens of Theonia can they enjoy these rights, which makes the identity of an official citizens of Theonia to be more precious and urges them to work harder to achieve this goal.
Patroclus’ father was only a preparatory citizen, so according to the regulations, he is not eligible for admission. However, Aguilas had applied to the Senate for his outstanding performance in the war, so in view of the child’s contribution in the war, the statesmen finally took him as a special case and gave their approval. Therefore, Patroclus is actually the only student in the akademia whose parents are not official citizens of Theonia.
Unaware of his own specialness, the staff member, after Patroclus’ found his name in the student register and confirming his identity, looked at him with interest and after taking the tuition fee, he ticked off Patroclus’ name and encouraged him, “You will be studying in Classroom One from now on. Go on and study hard, little man!”
Patroclus then rushed out of the crowd and came to the edge of the playground, where rows of buildings were hung with a big wooden sign with Greek letters on them.
However, Patroclus became dumbfounded as he could not read a word and had to go and ask someone else.
“Hello, where is Classroom One?”
At this moment, a clear voice came from behind him, “Classroom One is beside you, idiot!”
Patroclus turned his head and saw the daughter of the archon, whom he had just seen earlier, standing behind him and looking at him with big bright eyes and a teasing smile on her round face.
“Cynthia, it’s rude of you to say that. Apologize to this little brother.” Cheiristoya gently reproached her.
Cynthia usually listens to Cheiristoya, but when she faces a boy who was only a few years older than herself, she couldn’t say a thing, and her little face suddenly turns red and so she hurriedly turns her head away.
Therefore, Cheiristoya had to personally apologize to Patroclus.
Facing the noble wife of the archon, the 13-year old Patroclus was at a loss. So he bowed his head shyly and even said “It’s okay! It’s okay….” then fled in a hurry.