Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

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This is a time of great powers: The vast Persia, Sparta that was founded by force, Athens with its trade and business, Thebes the rising star, The ambitious Macedonia, The twin heroes of the Western Mediterranean, The rising Rome and so on.

This is an era of brilliant stars: Agesilaus II – the last king of Sparta, Epaminondas – the Rising General of Thebes, Philip II – the founder of Macedonian’s hegemon, Dionysius – the tyrant of Syracuse, Camillus – the Roman dictator and savior…

This is an era of contention among a hundred schools of thought: Plato – the great philosopher, Antisthenes – founder of cynicism, Pythagoras – school of number, Democritus – the encyclopedia scholar, Hippocrates – the father of western medicine, Aristophanes – the great dramatist…

What will the hero bring to the world when he comes to this age as a humble mercenary through rebirth?

Associated Names
One entry per line
Cổ Hi Lạp Chi Địa Trung Hải Bá Chủ
Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
MHAG
古希腊之地中海霸主
Related Series
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Recommendations
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The Grandmaster Strategist (3)
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Rome Must Fall (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Needles in the haystack
  2. Time Travel 101
  3. Ancient Times
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  5. Very Well Written Novels

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03/26/24 Insanity Cave c893
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52 Reviews sorted by


Niurem
Niurem rated it
March 23, 2022
Status: c490
Absolutely loved it but couldn't find anything similar so it's actually a curse to read this. The best part about it is what would be world building in fantasy. Those small things that people and soldiers do that make you go 'wow these guys really are from this era and lice like this' the amount of research that im sure the author did must be insane. Loving seeing something im not very clear about and googling it. Had 5 tabs open when reading, one for the small area map (the... more>> author describes places well and with directions like south of something and the like so its easy to find on a map and imagine the event better) a bigger map of the continent?, and a few maps like a medieval weapons wiki and a tab for whatever term im looking up. Absolutely recommend it to everyone. And as everyone has already said, I'm truly suprised a chinese wrote this with no nationalism and much more knowledge and appreciation of other cultures. I'm kind of a nationalist but even then if my country was sh*t on by MC I'm pretty sure I wouldve read it lol its that unbiased. <<less
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Jiggy
Jiggy rated it
December 5, 2021
Status: Completed
The novel is a great read.

... more>>
Spoiler

Gripes I have is why didn't he introduce gunpowder, propose better ship, how did he make pumpkin soup when pumpkin is a mesoamerican crop, food and paper gets glossed over, food is good like magic. Didn't even get the science of it, didn't make an artificial harbor with concrete, for a guy who's supposedly interested in Rome, concrete is a highlight, why not make roads with bricks too, unlike limestone, clay is almost everywhere, why focus extremely bout the kingdom of the east, yet never tried an expedition to contact it, he mentioned railroad and never went for it again, has a massive school system mirrored with modern ones, but empire supposedly collapsed from barbarians like Rome, really? Rome's problem with barbarians was they had them inside their border, division is most likely to make the empire collapse, not barbarians, and just 300 years? Education system teaches national pride, they assimilate people not conquer em, that's their foundation. Did the Author forget the butterfly effect, did he really assume China's history would be the same and it having simplified characters, but he wondered whether Hannibal of Carthage or Scipio would still exist with the premature end of Rome and Carthage, but China supposedly still has same history -.-, why would he have himself entombed in China when he has lived his a longer life as a Theonian, he has family there too -.-

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Leinyl
Leinyl rated it
November 13, 2021
Status: c70
It does the historical and army-based combat really well but unfortunately that's all this novel has to offer and it gets a bit too much for me to be consume it continuously. The emotional aspect is barely recognized due to the MC being very good at adapting. The characters and their interactions are bland, including the MC. It mostly amounts to them praising the MC or expressing how they care about their brothers in arms. Can't comment about kingdom-building yet considering MC has yet to establish his territory to where... more>> I left off. As for world-building, it is difficult to say it is well-done when it basically uses mostly the real world's history.

The best parts for me would probably be the MC's speech as it is so invigorating that it even affects me when I've read it. The boring/worse parts would probably be when it switches to the perspectives of people that I don't recognize nor care about. Also, the sentence structure feels off at times and some names keep changing at random in the chapters I've read making it a little confusing to read at certain parts.

If history and tactics are all you are here for then go ahead and give it a try but if you are like me that wants to have more than just that then I suggest you look elsewhere. <<less
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Hikicarl
Hikicarl rated it
October 22, 2020
Status: Completed
Spoiler

Don't like how the war ended and how his son married the daughter of his former enemy who slaughtered thousands of his men when they were captured. Several cities were sacked and burned. Making them an in-law is giving me a bad feeling. Didn't give me satisfaction.

But overall good novel. This raised the standards too high that it gives me trouble finding another novel of similar or better quality.

Didn't finished it though. I think stop at Greece war with Dionia. I skimmed the next chapters and got tired of the grinding like style of the novel. I have deep feelings with this novel so I don't like to finish it to not dampen my feelings to this novel seeing how most Chinese authors are bad at writing ending. Either cliffhanger, rushed or open ending. It is so immersive I like it very much.

Nevertheless I would like everyone to read it to understand ancient history well. And why we should be thankful for the peace we are enjoying right now. And also to know that ancient people are not to be underestimated just because we lived in the future.

The reason for 4 stars is I could feel the emotions of this novel to well that it changed my perception of the world. I feel different now. And I feel scared for some reasons.

But I pretty much recommend reading this book. You would love it I'm pretty sure. Regardless of your favored genre. You will surely love it.

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I want to Wipe my memory and read it again. I take it back.. I'll keep on reading..

Edit:

The novel is focused on battles and somewhat mirroring of what Rome did in real life to conquer the whole Mediterranean.

Spoiler

Like how Rome annexed Greece by not conquering them and leaving them to their own devices until all strong powers are eliminated. Which I can relate how Davos annexed the remaining major Greek cities in magna graecia only once Syracuse lost.

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As of the latest chapter, there are more battles so the chapters per battles become shorter. That can be perceive as drop in quality but I let it go because there are more battles.

I am glad I read this novel as it made me more interested in history. Making me understand more and more of it and correcting misconceptions I once believed.

Edit: And still I was right the ending of chinese novels sucks.... Always ending in cliffhanger or ends without a resolution... perfectly justified the 4 star instead of 5 have the story ends with more details.
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Fluffums
Fluffums rated it
September 27, 2022
Status: c178
The only thing I can really add to the current reviews is:

The whole political process reeks of fascist propaganda, and the result of simplifying it also hurts the character development of relevant characters. The protagonist, in the political scenes, comes off as a Mary Sue saint-like character who's come from the future to save the savages of Ancient Greece from the horrors of democracy. He's even kind enough to explain to them why they should accept their invaders as fellow citizens and even leaders of their country, and luckily... more>> everyone's willing to comply with one or two sentences and a really good army. It's also nice how even the people who constantly have their traditions, beliefs, emotions, and self-interests trampled along the way soon resign themselves to the fate of having the protagonist protect them from themselves.

Mind you, this doesn't really start coming into play until after the first "book" of the retreat of ten thousand, which is a really good read and I recommend for anyone to try it. Even after that, the good parts (most things battle-related, speeches, history, reforms) are really good. There are a few minor gripes but all major problems are directly related to the poorly-handled politics. Not to say the politics themselves were wrong, just that the way they're written hurts the story a lot.


Side note: Protagonist being condescending about the superstitious Greeks would have made more sense if they weren't absolutely correct about him having died and come back to life with all sorts of useful knowledge. Would it kill him (again) to even consider divine intervention in a sudden, inexplicable trip to the past after dying? It would have been more understandable for him to act like everyone should be grateful for him becoming a dictator if he eventually half-convinced himself he really was favored by or related to a god... <<less
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Anoncommander1
Anoncommander1 rated it
May 17, 2022
Status: c525
I found this novel by searching *first-time interc**rse*, stayed for the story. One of the best stories I have read this past 2 years.

Also, I can see the author doing his own research for this era, since there are a lot of chars of famous people, the geographic area, the weapon, and tactics in this era. Unlike other authors that will probably make their MC invent high-end weapons like muskets or something.
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Monomololo
Monomololo rated it
January 21, 2021
Status: c148
This one's complicated for me.

The historical setting is obviously well-researched, and the author references real life events as they happen in story, but once the original Persia arc is over the story takes place in a pretty blank slate area without many big names, and that feels like a missed opportunity.

There is a minor element of uplift, mostly medical and waterwheel and architecture and organizational stuff, but it's downplayed and the author prefers to make minor changes, like for example so far the MC hasn't adopted the Macedonian Phalanx with... more>> Sarissas or the Roman Maniple with Pilum/Gladius, instead he's stuck with the Greek Phalanx, for some reason, although he's done some half assed javelin stuff, which to be honest seems like common sense and something that the armies of the time would already do.

The author is trying really hard to reconcile his modern day Chinese politics with the fact that his MC is a monarch in all but name and that he's a s*aver (which now that I think about it, doesn't seem all that removed from modern Chinese politics after all), all the while decrying democracy at every opportunity. Which on one hand is hilarious, but on the other the hypocrisy is somewhat grating and it takes away from my enjoyment a bit.

The pace is okay at the start, but once the MC gets his own territory it grinds to a halt, the promised period of expansion and conquest never comes, and instead the author has his MC play at politics and alliances and frankly it's pathetic and tiring to read about, because it's a child's view of how politics is played and every character besides the MC and maybe one or two of his advisors acts like a child or like a cardboard cutout antagonist.

Don't get me wrong, the flaws aren't as pronounced as in other Chinese novels, but it's still definitely a Chinese novel. <<less
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DaaPanda
DaaPanda rated it
October 21, 2020
Status: c154
Amazing one of the good Kingdom building novels. The fact I only can read one chapter a day is kind of a double edge sword.
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mysticalvoid111
mysticalvoid111 rated it
September 2, 2023
Status: c600
Frankly, I like everything except the MC. Why? The kingdom building is decent despite it not mentioning some details. The wars are detailed elaborately even if there are some unrealistic things. The characters are also decently written though they haven't been fully developed. As for the reason why I dislike the MC, it's because I can't really sympathize with him. Despite the author trying to be subtle at his contempt for anything democratic or capitalistic, I can still feel it in the novel. Not only that but the MC can... more>> be a condescending hypocritical son of a b*tch. I will give this a four star as thanks to the translators but not the author since the novel feels like a self-insert. <<less
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TheSleeplessImmortal
TheSleeplessImmortal rated it
August 9, 2023
Status: Completed
The best, if not one of, Kingdom Building novel that I have ever read.

If you are still hesitating... please just read it and see for yourself!

The author has solid knowledgw about the history of ancient greece.

... more>> And the characters are realistic and thinks for themselves.

Tho there are a lot of info dumps. If you are not a history nerd then you can just skim through it.

It's an epic adventure of Davos who went from a young mercenary to a King of a great kingdom that conquered the entire Mediterranean and beyond! I truly enjoyed it. So much that I even bothered making an account and rating it 5 stars! <<less
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Excelsior
Excelsior rated it
March 12, 2023
Status: c724
Great plot, the execution is almost impeccable. Clearly the author knows what they are doing, they are also well knowledgeable in the history they are writing.

Pros:

    • MC is a smart strategist
    • Character building for side characters
    • Good kingdom building; one of the best, top five.
    • Great war strategy
Cons:

    • MC came from modern day and from China but fails to create something as basic as gunpowder or even some proto or pseudo-cannon technology even though he had about 10 years of peace, and access to some of the brightest minds of the era. The author might just want to stick with swords and armor, but it seriously cripples the potential. Also, why didn't the MC think of using birds to send important messages? Of which he could have used encryption to ensure safety of the message. Instead, they stick with good-old messengers.
All in all, it is a good read.

4/5.

For those interested in games that involve kingdom building, warfare etc like this book. Then try these games:

Unciv (can be found on Google play store),

World of Empires I & II (should be on Google play store),

Sid Meier's Civ series (has several editions, can be found on Google play store as well).
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PoSunBanYi
PoSunBanYi rated it
February 4, 2023
Status: c695
Okay, this guy knows a lot of books, nice and actually pretty damn interesting.

Then, after beating everyone up, and getting the first mildly big arc of an enemy invasion, things go to the goddamn well. It doesn't matter how much history Chen Rui knows, that won't make a novel better nor good, especially because it is historic and the truth is nothing more but an intelligent copy paste.

The wars were fine, until Syracuse came, and CR even 'apologized' (spoiler alert: did not) for not only ultra buffing every single ancient,... more>> historic and dumbass generals and tyrants like it makes sense after so much suck up for history. Directly deleting things that happen even 1-2k years later in the world such as general being dumb, s*upid and overconfident; and passes it all to the (OH COME ONE, GUESS) MC's forces; oh waw!

Then comes the romans, guess what happens next. Anyway, the romans didn't even adapted to the samnites until their second war or so, and it was the third one where it finally went well for rome against them after so much loss towards them. And I might just see how 10 chapters from now, a general that was treated like sh*t in real history is to have all of his army copy just that in just days or a month at most because CR knows perfectly well what he is doing.

It's just so disappointing; it's like watching the tender and sweet girl everyone adores and wishes to be with but are shy to corrupt her, only to see her in a foursome with 3 big packed and muscular older boys. There isn't even a reaction, it's just... 'again?'.

Though I enjoyed so much the world building (cheat) and the wars, since IMO the army and kingdom building had a lot to offer, especially since is one that is uniquely dedicated at it, getting flashbacks to reading TWO which I ended up dropping after similar stuff happened and once whatever the MC did would always be smart, proficient and right; and never wrong.

Now, this is like watching a beta, self-humiliating-focused novel, where what you worked so hard to build without knowing the real stuff and only know some history and typical things that anyone suddenly interested with ancient history would have - being totally worthless, non-progressive, regressive in fact, counteractive and the worst of it all; self-depreciating to one's story.

Extra note: Okay, so, Philip II who? Nah, 380 bc and some military roman suddenly uses reserves like its decades later, oh but it's fine because it's just decades later. And that is with me having forgotten to speak about the numbers being simply wrong, changing every chapter and even in the next paragraph because just as it is with the enemies getting ultra buffed, that is alright too, RIGHT?! <<less
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stanljpierre
stanljpierre rated it
August 4, 2022
Status: c587
From the available translated that I did read, the novel is quite well written, but as for it being interesting... Well, I’m not the biggest fan of the kingdom building genre and I only started this due to the many good reviews on it. Don’t think there’s anything particularly bad about this novel, but I often times found myself bored of the tediousness of the battles (especially the most recent one with Syracuse which last an entire arc) that many times just end up in negotiations/compromises with the enemy only... more>> for the MC to be betrayed time after time. Of course he always comes out on top which is expected as he’s the MC, but it gets repetitive. Really don’t find anything about this novel distinguishes it from others beside the setting which doesn’t say much. Not a bad read, but the positive reviews and rating are a bit exaggerated, at least in my opinion. <<less
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Zakorak
Zakorak rated it
May 27, 2021
Status: c1053
One of the best kingdom building novels. Author done a lot of research for the era and paved a path for the MC to essentially build Rome. The author provides a lot of history during ancient Greece and Italy. Armies actually have tactics and strategies, generals can lead and do things themselves. People have their own plans and ideas instead of blindly following the MC.

MC does not blindly invent future technology. Inventions are realistic for the time period but, MC provides knowledge of health, academics, military to build a better... more>> kingdom. He has relevant background instead of being a know it all. The age is primitive so most modern ideas work with minor tweaking. There's plenty of politics, rebellions, corruption, etc. Not much romance only several chapters per volume. Mainly focuses on the war aspect. There is a lot of chapters dedicated around the life for the kingdom.

There's usually time skips after the completion of the war and takes away from the after war in the later chapters. They're big timeskips and usually summarized in 1 chapter or less. Usually minor build up of the war ~10-20 chapters then a lot of war chapters. Wars are different everytime requiring different tactics. <<less
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adNauseam
adNauseam rated it
November 7, 2022
Status: Completed
Very decent.

A pity that the ending was butchered, but overall a great story.

Ignore the final chapters and just imagine it yourself. Believe me, whatever comes out of your head, it will certainly be much better!
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marcogeorge
marcogeorge rated it
October 18, 2022
Status: c630
I've read lots of light novels, If I say so, Ascendance of bookworm, RTW, Sword of Daybreaker, TOMA, HN1F's, Many of Famous Japanese/Korean/Chinese novels.

What I want to say is that, none of them made me feel that I've to make an account to just review it, Translators are awesome, pretty fast chapter release schedule, Translations is pretty point on.

Extremely historical and 'realistic' compared to others in the genre imho it is currently unmatched.

I can't really say anything more than what others have said, All I can say, It... more>> was extremely worth my time.

You can try the first volume, it sets a bit of tone of how the novel is going to be, though the real kingdom building starts later (volume 3 pretty much where you can really judge the novel though that's 150 chapters in)

I was hooked on chapter 40.

If you like historical/Realistic/Release-That-witch without magic type of novels, I can guarantee this novel is for you.

A bit of spoiler though not really.

Spoiler

Well there isn't really any insane tech inventions like RTW, More like policies/strategies/Tactics/Politics compared to the time that the story is set in (400BCE)

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Imo, The arthur just made a masterpiece that won't be matched anytime soon at least for me after years of RTW being my best novel in kingdom building.

Give it a try. <<less
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Kleimor
Kleimor rated it
June 15, 2022
Status: c390
It's really good.

Not so great in character development but the amount of research the author must have done is admirable.

MC dominates without being OP and even fails several times.

... more>> While his policies and the way his kingdom develops might not be realistic due to human nature at least it is logical and makes you think that it is possible.

MC brings modern mentality and practices into the ancient world without directly inventing steam engines and guns, which at times feels good and at times makes me frustrated because I want to see what effects would such technologies bring.

Also, MC might seem like a typical brainwashed chinese nationalist in the first 100 chapters or less but I'm inclined to believe the author only wrote him like that to throw off the chinese censors monitoring his novel. Later on he openly admires greek culture and people and even condemns racism and xenophobia, you know, the very things china does.

The only controversial view of his is that he says a single ruler is better than democracy. You know, monarchy. And depending on the situation he is probably right, so...

All in all, 4.5/5. I would love to have better characters but it being the type of novel it is I know it is hard so we can forgive it. <<less
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nakie08
nakie08
June 13, 2022
Status: c546
It's a decent read but it's far from being perfect in my opinion. The MC is only really a "military genius" because his opponents are either self-destructively overconfident or just downright s*upid. I'd recommend it but I'll say that don't expect it to be as good as I did after reading all these rave reviews.
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Nightwing
Nightwing rated it
May 18, 2022
Status: c526
Nothing at all to complain about (except maybe MC's views on democracy). It's unique, strong historical basis, plot is exciting and intelligent. The author obviously put a lot of research into this. The only grand strategy LN I've read that compares is the The World Online.
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siddharth
siddharth rated it
April 4, 2022
Status: c484
It's the best kingdom building novel I've ever read!! The MC is a genius who doesn't really rely on any major plot armour (except maybe his genius brain). There's no illogical stuff like building guns/tanks etc. The MC's knowledge is limited to what any 21st century human would have. I totally recommend everyone to give it a try at least once.
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