Chapter 248 \nMarticoris was completely obsessed with mathematics and didn’t care about common things. While Metoticles was different, he is not averse in spending time on various matters, what’s more, mathematics gave him a careful mind, so that he is quite capable of managing the institute, arranging manpower and making plans, which is why Davos have made him serve as the director of the institute. In this regard, Marticoris raised both hands in favor.\n“I’ll think about it.” Metoticles replied cautiously.
“I now understood the principle of this ballista!” At this moment, Marticoris came to Davos excitedly and pointed to the drawing and excitedly exclaimed, “Look here! Look here! The most important thing of this ballista is these two things, one is the string made of strong animal tendons, and the other is the pulley that can pull the string with less effort. In addition, the longer the slider, the farther its range will be, because the string will be pulled as far as possible, then the more force it will rebound and give to the stone…I think the Syracusans are very stupid, as they had only use one pulley system which is too simple and harder to use. In fact, making a pulley set and fixing it to the end of the slider will make it much easier to pull the string to the end of the slider. Give me the best carpenters and materials, and I will soon be able to make a better ballista than them!”
The confident look of Marticoris satisfied Davos and he then said with a smile, “I have just told Metoticles that I am going to send the engineering technicians of the Legion engineering camp to the Institute of Mathematics as your assistant, and Theonia has the best cattle in the western Mediterranean – The Lucanian cattle, which can supply you with a lot of high-quality beef tendon at any time.”
“Great!” With that, Marticoris took the drawing and walked out.
“Marticoris, I have an idea.” Davos stopped him in a hurry, “If the ballista can accurately tell where the stone will fall before shooting the stone, then it would be helpful for the operator to accurately hit the target.”
“This….” As for the proposal put forward by Davos, Marticoris and Metoticles did not feel that it was an additional burden, on the contrary, they started thinking about it.
“I still have another idea.” Davos then said seriously, “I think that no matter how much force we use and how many angles we throw the object, the trajectory of the object in the air should be like this -” Davos stretched out his finger and drew different arcs in the air.
Marticoris and Metoticles were staring at Davos’ moving finger and were lost in their thoughts.\n“If there is no wind and the ground is at the same level, and with the highest point of the trajectory of the thrown object in the air as the center, the two sides of the trajectory when folded up should be able to overlap….” Davos said in a calm tone.
Both of them were shocked and suddenly became excited.
“Hold on…archon, this…this is…has Hades given you a revelation again?!” Asked Metoticles, stutteringly. There have been several similar situations in the past, when Davos talked to them both, he would occasionally put forward some novel ideas, which were verified to be correct afterwards, and each time, it allowed both of them to achieve a breakthrough in their study of mathematical theory, and also greatly expand their knowledge.
“You can think as such.” Davos smiled mysteriously.
“Come! Come! Now draw the trajectory in order for us to take a closer look!” Marticoris excitedly took Davos by the hand and walked outside without saying anything.
Davos understood what he meant. The floor of the living room was paved with marble, so naturally, they could only draw on the mud in the courtyard, so he followed him out of the living room.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Mother, come, come and see! Father is doing something in your garden together with someone, and has stepped on all of your flowers!” Cynthia pointed to Davos and yelled loudly.\n“Shh!” Cheiristoya made a hush gesture and whispered, “Don’t wake up your brother!”
She came to the window, looked down and frowned slightly, then she turned back and said with a smile, “It’s nothing. It’s just your father and some uncles talking about some mathematics.” Although Cheiristoya loves her flowers, she is a woman who will never embarrass her husband in public.
“What is mathematics?” Adoris who was next to her asked curiously.
“That’s a very interesting knowledge and your sister will soon learn it.” Cheiristoya smilingly said.
“Can I go to school, too?” Asked Adoris longingly. (E/N: We will interchange between school and akademia)
“Of course.” Cheiristoya stroked his head, “But you are still young, so you will have to wait another year.”
“I don’t want to wait! I want to go to school together with my sister now!” Adoris said with dissatisfaction.
“Brother, stop causing trouble! Listen to what mother says, or I won’t let father tell you a story at night!” As soon as this was said, Adoris, though he was pouting, had quieted down.
“Mother, is it really good to go to school and study with other boys?” Cynthia said hesitantly to Cheiristoya. At this time, Cynthia was seven years old. According to the Greek tradition, a girl could marry at 16 years old, so she already knew about many things. Since childhood, her biological mother taught her how to be a good woman in a Greek family. In her impression, her mother never went out of the house, but now, she would need to study with many boys in public year after year, day after day, which made her feel a little uneasy.
\nToday, however, the 13 year old Patroclus got up very early. After washing up in a hurry, he helped his mother bake bread, which made his mother feel very grateful: His always naughty son really grew up after the invasion of Crotone.
At the dinner table, his mother asked again with concern, “Clus, do you really not want me to send you to the aka…akademia?”
Patroclus shook his head like a rattle, “No! When the bad guys from Crotone came, I was alone in sending messages to several nearby villages! Even uncle Aguilas praised me as a warrior. I am already old enough, and the akademia is in the city, if I still need you to send me, it would be embarrassing!”
“But-” As soon as her mother’s words were uttered, she was interrupted by Patroclus’ father – Periandorus, “Let him go alone!”
Periandorus looked at Patroclus seriously, “When you arrive at the school, you should listen to the teacher, do what you are told and If you don’t perform well, I will beat you up!” His illiterate father naturally hopes that his son can write well and have a better future, but he couldn’t say anything better to encourage him, so he can only use his usual tone to frighten his son. However, Patroclus, who often talks back, answered cleverly, “I know father!”
When Periandorus got surprised, a knock on the door came, “Who is it?”
“It’s uncle Aguilas!” Patroclus cheered and rushed to open the door.
“It’s time for little Clus to go to school today.” As soon as Aguilas came in, he touched Patroclus’ head with a smile and said, “I have brought you a schoolbag, a stylus, a few wax-coated practice tablets, and a small folding wooden chair that you can use for school.”