Herpus stood on the side of the bed, with a grave expression. He then shook his head slightly at Davos.
Davos walked with heavy steps to the bed and gazed at the thin old man.
Heracleides didn’t react even with the arrival of Davos.
Davos held his right hand, which was only skin and bone, and was covered with dust. He then held it tightly and said in a sincere voice, “Heracleides, thank you for your contribution to Theonia! Your name will be remembered by the people of Theonia!!….”
The words of Davos seemed to work as Heracleides closed his eyes slowly and the sound of breathing disappeared…
Herpus came over quickly, put his head on Heracleides’ chest and listened carefully, then reached to the tip of his nose to feel his breathing. Finally, Herpus shook his head and said quietly, “He’s gone….”
Soon, there was the sound of crying in the crowded courtyard, and all the architects, craftsmen, sculptors, slaves…and so on were all mourning.
Davos then spoke in a sorrowful whisper, “Elysium welcomes your entry. Hades will give you shelter and you will be his guest and build a splendid palace for your residence. Whether on earth or in heaven, the great name of Heracleides will be praised…”
Heracleides the Younger, who was crying beside him listened to the eulogy of Davos, he then wiped his tears and expressed his thanks to the archon.
Davos patted him kindly on the shoulder as a sign of comfort and said, “The celebration ceremony for the completion of the Temple of Hades will be held the day after tomorrow, so I need you to find the best sculptor immediately to make your father’s bust in these two days, and he will be the first person to enter the Hall of Sages for the public to revere.”
‘This was a glorious event!’ Heracleides the Younger stopped crying in excitement and thought for a moment, and then turned to speak with another man that was grieving.
The man came and saluted Davos respectfully, and said excitedly, “Lord Davos, it’s an honour for my teacher to be held in such high esteem by you! And it’s also glory for all of us builders and craftsmen! I will go talk with the best sculptor immediately, and finish the production of the teacher’s bust in two days!”
“Piasikos, I have heard Heracleides talk about you many times.” Davos nodded and encouraged him, “Heracleides is now gone, so as his best disciple, you should not only continue to carry forward the skills you inherited from him but also study new building techniques and to train more excellent disciples! Amendolara, Nerulum, Grumentum, Krimisa, Aprustum…and so on., in the future, there will be more cities waiting for you to re-plan and build a clean, practical and beautiful city like Thurii. I hope that in the future, you will also be able to enter the Hall of Sages like your teacher!….”
What Davos said made Piasikos excited.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the way back to the city, Davos called Plesinas to listen to his sacrificial procedures and arrangements for the celebration ceremony of the completion of the Temple of Hades.
Finally, Plesinas said, “Now all the celebrations, including milord’s lighting of the torch, have been practised many times to make sure there are no big mistakes. However, there is still one problem that needs to be solved, that is, we are short of priests that will be in charge of the temple.”
In the era of nobility, the archon had the rights to hold sacrificial ceremonies, so he also served as the high priest. Nowadays, with the power and prestige of Davos, not to mention the fact that he was the “Favored” of Hades, it is only logical for him to be the high priest. However, selecting the priest who will be the one to usually preside over the temple is now a dilemma for the Senate.
Hades, one of the 12 main gods in Greece, was also worshipped, but because of his death and darkness trait, only a few city-states have built temples that are dedicated to him, and so he had no priest. There was even a proposal made by the statesmen of Thurii to invite the believers of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was popular in Athens but was opposed by everyone. The reason was that the Eleusinian Mysteries worshipped Persephone, the wife of Hades, and Demeter, the goddess of fertility, and not Hades himself, and it was inappropriate for the priests of the other gods and goddesses to be transferred, which was why the Senate had been arguing about it for a long time. Naturally, this also has something to do with the fact that Davos had not given his opinion.
At this point, Davos, as if not realizing that he was the one responsible for the problem, did not respond directly to Plesinas’ words, and had instead looked at the statesman of the Senate with great interest. He changed from the enemy that he had been when they had first met to a political helper with whom he had cooperated well, and due to Plesinas showing his loyalty and unique talent, which he appreciated very much, “Plesinas, you have done a good job in building the Temple of Hades. What do you intend to do next?”
There was a thrill in Plesinas’ heart, as he thought that this was the way of Davos rewarding him, so Plesinas immediately said, “I want to run as the grand inspector next year!”
Davos nodded. As he was on foot and with only an escort following him from behind, the people of Thurii, when they saw him, greeted him respectfully, and he, of course, nodded to the people from time to and time and then took this opportunity to say, “The woman who had greeted us just now is a Lucania, and she should believe in Asinu, and this one is a Thracian and the gods they believe in most should be Dionysius and Ares, and that one…you see, the citizens of Theonia had come from all over the Mediterranean and they believe in hundreds of gods. In the future, as the territory of Theonia continues to expand, the number of races that becomes citizens of Theonia will increase, and the number of gods in the Theonian Union will also increase. Although Theonia has a powerful military force to protect the lives of the citizens and an advanced and elegant culture which increases the citizens’ sense of belonging, but-” Davos pointed to his head and seriously said, “But it is a mess! If Theonia were to encounter any major disaster, it will be very difficult for the people to unite and tide over the difficulties together. In that case, all our efforts will be in vain!”
Since ancient times, the Greeks have always believed in multiple gods, so they seldom care about the beliefs of other races, and so Plesinas did not expect that Davos would take this religious issue so seriously and wondered what his intention is.
“Have you ever heard of the Jews?” Davos asked suddenly.
“I…I seem to have heard it from someone that they are…a race of people in Persia who are good at doing business….” Plesinas struggled to recall. The Jews at this time were not like the Jews under the peaceful rule of the Roman Empire hundreds of years later, where they were free to do business and settle down anywhere, and thus were in frequent conflict with the Greeks, but because the western Mediterranean at this time was controlled by two major races who were skilled in commerce – the Greeks and the Carthaginians, hence why the jews have no place in the western Mediterranean and were, therefore, less well known.
“Jews weren’t just known for their business, they are monotheistic and they believe in only one god.”
“Only one god?!” Plesinas could not believe what he was hearing. Among all the kingdoms, city-states and races in the Mediterranean, there is actually a race that believed in only one god.
“Yes, the Jews believe in only one god!” Davos answered him and said seriously, “Jews are a small and weak race, and had lived in Egypt in the past and were enslaved by the Egyptian Pharaoh and lived a hard life until a Jewish hero, Moses, appeared and led the Jews through all the hardship in escaping Egypt, and after decades of wandering and bloody struggle, they eventually captured the land of Canaan and established their own country. However, it didn’t last long, as the Assyrians destroyed the Jewish kingdom and sent all the Jews to Babylon as slaves, and stayed as slaves until Cyrus, the king of the Persians, destroyed Assyria and freed the Jews.
Afterwards, they returned to their homeland and rebuilt their country and religion. And during the turbulent century in Asia Minor, many other races that had lived alongside the Jews have perished, while the Jews had survived through the tribulations. Why?” After a pause, Davos gave Plesinas a time to think and then said in a deep voice, “Because their strong faith and worship of the one God has kept them united which allowed them to not lose themselves nor forget the roots of their own race in the face of other more glorious ethnic civilizations!”
Plesinas thought about what Davos had said and what he was trying to express, and then said with some hesitation, “Milord, the Greeks believe in many gods, and the people of Theonia believe in even more gods, these are traditions that have been passed down and ingrained! If…we were forced them to believe in one god, I am afraid…I am afraid that there will be huge trouble!”
Seeing the worried look of Plesinas, Davos then said with a smile, “I will naturally not make such a stupid proposal, but we can take the initiative to guide more people to believe in Hades so that the Theonians from all places and races can be as close to each other in spirit, isn’t that right?!”
“Milord, even if we build the Temple of Hades, the habits of the Greeks will not change easily. When going out to sea, they will pray to Poseidon. When doing business, they will pray to Hermes. When they are working at the farm, they will sing the hymn of Demeter…the Greeks are very realistic and prayed to whatever gods and goddesses for their needs, so they couldn’t just pray to Hades!” Said Plesinas while shaking his head.
“The people may pray to the other gods, but I hope that the Temple of Hades will be a place of peace for their souls! That is why I want to build the Hall of Valor and the Hall of Sages, and the Prison of the Wicked within the Temple of Hades, so that the Temple of Hades will become a sacred place for Theonia Union and to promote good and punish evil, a sacred place for the people to pay their respects and remember the heroes of the union! But this is still not enough-” Davos raised his head and looked in the direction of the temple ahead.
