But the liveliest place was naturally near the centre of the eastern district as countless people from all parts of the inner city flock towards the former Grand Arena of Theonia, now the Hades Arena, which was the venue for the annual opening ceremony of the Kingdom of Theonia's Rugby Champions League.
The official leading Garni sped up his pace, trying to squeeze his way to the south entrance of the arena, which was already bustling with people. Apart from the entrance having a long line, even the famous food street across the street was crowded with people. Besides buying food and snacks at the various stalls to satisfy their hunger when watching the game, they also went into the shops to purchase drums and whistles that could make loud sounds and statues of their favourite players.
Due to their nonstop bargaining with customers, every stall owner and merchant had hoarse voices. Yet they were still happy and even wished that this competition would continue every day so that they could earn a lot of money.
Between the arena's entrance and the food street was a large statue of Hades, the god of the underworld, the protector of Theonia. The statue had his left-hand stretched forward and his right hand at the back while holding a hand egg in a throwing posture. At the same time, the statue's left foot was placed forward with its right foot slightly lifted. The statue has black hair, a serious demeanour, a long tunic tied around the waist, and the clothing's texture was so clear that it didn't hide its bulging muscle…
Although the statue of Hades in the temple is solemn, while this one outside the arena was equally imposing with its more than three metres height plus the five-metre bade, it still shows its friendly attitude that made the people yearn for it. Thus not only had the statue increased the people's love for the sport but also made it one of the places where the believers would come to worship.
On the side of the entrance were rows of wooden houses, with each wooden house's roof painted with the image of Tyche, the goddess of luck. There are also many people gathering here that made the place noisy.
“I bet ten drachmaes for Thurii to beat Compsa!”
“Hey man, you saw the strength of Thurii's team. Since it is only natural for them to beat Compsa by a huge margin, the odds placed on them were too low. Hence your ten drachmaes would only allow you to earn two Obol, which is a waste. Instead, it is better to bet on the second opening game, Rudiae vs Uzentum, with both sides having higher odds, you would earn more if you bet correctly.”
“I don't care whether I earn or not. Since I am from Thurii, it is only natural for me to support Thurii's team to win no matter whether they won or lost!”
“Excuse me! I don't know much about the strength of the Messapian cities regarding Rugby, so can you tell me which team between Uzentum and Rudiae is stronger?”
“You've asked the right person, as I know quite a lot about Messapi! Rudiae was the centre of the Messapi before, so it is also the largest city and has a large population in that area. Besides, you should know about Milo, the former polemarchos of Crotone and now a statesman of the Senate. In his younger years, Milo won many Greek sports championships. So when he served in Rudiae for four years, except for suppressing the revolts in Rudiae, he vigorously promoted Rugby and football. Hence Rudiae was quite early in spreading about rugby in the entire Messapi region.
On the other hand, Uzentum was just a small coastal town. But since it is closer to Thurii, they had played rugby earlier. And as far as I know, they had played each other four times, with Rudiae winning all of them…”
“Then I'll throw five drachmaes for Rudiae to beat Uzentum!”
. . . . . . . . . . . .
These noisy voices rang out in Garni's ear, making him feel his eardrums swell. But he knew that the Theonians were buying a kind of paper ticket called “Tyche's blessing” issued by the kingdom. Once the buyer accurately guesses the game's winner, he would get some prize money, but if he guesses wrong, he will lose the money he bet. And this form of entertainment is actually similar to the dice game played by the Samnites after a banquet (in fact, it is also popular in all Greek city-states.)
What made Garni sigh even more was that when he first came to Thurii’s arena to watch the game, they had just begun implementing this kind of ‘entertainment’. At that time, there was only one wooden house and few buyers, but just after a few years, this kind of entertainment became popular in all cities of Theonia just watching the sea of people.
Despite the long line at the arena's entrance, Garni didn't have to wait as the official leading him had led him to another entrance, passed through the guards and entered directly into the special guests. The arena's seat was divided into blocks, and the one after entering through the special guests’ entrance on the south side led not far from the arena's stage.
And the seat arranged for him was not far from the platform, where some people were already seated.
With his seat close to the platform, Garni could see the large area covered with white clothes that blocked the sun. And Garni, who had been here before, knew that is the place where the king and queen of Theonia and the statesmen would sit when watching the game, but it was still currently empty like the field in front of him.
While Garni looked around, someone asked curiously, “Where are you from?”
Then an old-looking, dark-skinned Greek man with several scars on his face and a simple and honest appearance with a bit of ferociousness. Although he looks more like a farmer, the purple chiton he is wearing is quite expensive.
Garni didn't answer immediately and instead asked with a bit of precaution, “You are?”
“I am Cecrops, from Tyndaris.” The man answered honestly.
Garni knew those who could sit in this area were of extraordinary status even though the man he was facing looked ordinary. Unfortunately, Garni knew little about the other regions of Theonia besides those around Samnites. And since he doesn't care if the other person becomes embarrassed, Garni asks directly without hiding it, “That…where is Tyndaris?”
Cecrops was taken aback but then understood after listening to Garni's rough Greek and seeing his unusual appearance, unlike a Greek. Thus he said with seriousness, “We, Tyndarians, are from a Greek city-state on the island of Sicily, next to Messina and close to the territory of the kingdom of Theonia. And since we have a friendly relationship with Theonia, Theonia invited us yearly to participate in these magnificent and lively festivities!” Cecrops proudly said.
Back when Syracuse's defeat, Dionysius' death, Messina's capture, and the city-states on the eastern coast of Sicily changed their government…these series of great changes terrified Tyndaris, this small city-state which Dionysius raised. Thus their archon hastily formed a large delegation with countless riches to quickly rushed to Thurii to express their submission and allegiance to king Davos in a panic. But they didn't expect King Davos to instead express his extreme sympathy for the miserable situation of the Messenians due to Sparta and publicly promised that Theonia would not invade Tyndaris.
The Tyndarians were immediately overjoyed, for all Magna Graecians knew that Theonia's king was a man of his word. So even though Tyndaris failed to ally with Theonia, the two sides still signed a friendship agreement. And even after learning about the agreement between Theonia and Carthage regarding the division of power in Sicily, the Tyndarians still felt deep gratitude and respect toward Theonia. Moreover, Theonia sent friendly invitations to Tyndaris for the important celebrations in Theonia every year. Hence, how could the Tyndarians, a small and insignificant city-state in Sicily founded not long ago, not have a great affection for Theonia, the hegemon of Southern Italia?
“Besides inviting our Tyndaris, they also invited other Greek city-states in Sicily such as Syracuse, Gela, Kamarina, Agrigento, Enna, and even the Sikeloi towns, with most of them sending envoys to participate in this grand event-” Cecrops slightly paused after saying that because he remembered that Syracuse, the largest city-state in Sicily that supported Tyndaris' foundation, had not sent anyone to this year's Hades' Day. (nor had they in previous years) and neither did their several subordinate city-states. But that regrettable thought only flashed through his mind as he soon put it behind his mind; After all, Theonia was now the greatest supporter of Tyndaris while Syracuse became a thing of the past.
Cecrops stretched out his right hand and pointed around, “All those sitting here are guests from Sicily, and only you seemed a bit…uhm…different, that's why I was curious.”
Cecrops was still polite when he said that. Because anyone who sees Garni, who has an unkempt air and is barefooted, would know that he is a “barbarian”. After all, even the natives of Sicily, the Sikeloi, were similar to the Greeks in their clothes. Hence the people around Garni were curious but didn't dare to come to inquire. And only the small and weak Tyndarians, who the Spartans oppressed in the past, would try to make friends with any forces.
‘Sicily!’ Garni had an impression listening to this place. After all, the Samnite's current situation was all due to Syracuse, the previous hegemon of Sicily. So after hearing that, Garni understood that the hundreds of people around him were from various city-states in Sicily, which made him realise that Theonia occupied not only the vast land in Southern Italia but also the rich Sicily. Thus compared with Theonia with their formidable might, Abellinum's strength was truly insignificant!
Note: Tyche was the ancient Greek goddess of luck.
