The Greek people are in a time of national euphoria. The years of peace have done well for the people, after so long at war. A national sports league has been founded, and the first Olympic events, a huge gathering with competitive events in all athletic fields, are being held this year. As of now the plan is to repeat the Olympic events every 6 years. Not surprisingly, Belisarius won in the "large war games" event, with Zosimus not competing due to personal issues. More surprisingly, Belisarius won in the "free dance" event, a lesser-known passion of his. Glaukos participated in Javelin throwing, placing an impressive 69th out of 1000 competitors, even in his ripe age.
Greece is in a time of renaissance, with an explosion of art and music in recent history. Many great cultural and religious achievements have been made, including....
The Sistine Chapel, a magnificent building used by the high Buddhist priests, and for some public events. It is a testament to the greatness of Greek architects and painters.
The Mahabodhi, the most holy temple of Buddhism, has been built, where the Buddha first achieved enlightenment.
Both are located in the holy city Thebes, which has grown to be an epicenter of culture in Greece, only second to Sparta.
In the city of Corinth, now sitting alongside the Statue of Zeus is the magnificient Angkor Wat, the largest state temple in Greece.
The northern cities are growing very slowly, currently spending their time building lighthouses and granaries to sustain higher populations, even in such frigid land. In the future the cities will be a significant asset for population and production, as of now they are more or less camps for mining silver and marble, and collecting furs. Except, of course, the former Canadian capital, which will quickly grow after reconstructing its fishing fleet, which was unfortunately destroyed by barbarian pirates, shortly after Greece took control.
This has all come at a time of great war and strife to the East. A very large conflict, and likely more bloody war, compared to the Greek-Canadian war, in which there was very little urban combat and the majority of hostilities ended quickly.
Now even some of the pacifist priests are grateful for the large army watching over Greece, and the Greek people conjecture about possible future wars in which they may have to take up arms again to defend themselves. But for the time being, they feel safe in their celebrations, with the Greek phalanxes watching over the cities, and the Elephant riders ready to guide their beasts into battle again, if necessary.
