Chapter 9 The City of 7 Hills - Rome! (1)

Tapirus disembarked at Ostia with the accompanying members of the embassy.

Soon, he was surprised to notice that the most common people in this prosperous port were not the black-haired and black-eyed Latinums, but the Carthaginian merchants from the south of Dionia who were familiar to him. A ship of goods docked here, and then they were first unloaded by port personnel and transported to Rome in the east. Compared with other city-state merchants from this port, it turned out to be much faster, and the process was orderly. The sequence, apparently, has been in operation for a long time.

In addition, Dionian merchants were seen in the port district of Tapirus. In the past ten years, the expansion of the Kingdom of Dionia, the rapid expansion of the territory, the increase of various resources, the transportation convenience provided by the perfect construction of roads and bridges in the kingdom, coupled with the various favorable conditions promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce The implementation of the measures for the development of commerce and trade has led to the prosperity of commerce and trade. Many merchants have sprung up in various cities, and foreign merchants have also been attracted to actively apply to join Dionia, which makes the footprints of Dionia merchants all over the place. the entire Western Mediterranean. Of course, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Iberia and other areas under the strict control of Carthage must be excluded.

In the early years, some Dionysian merchants came to Rome to do business, and they also became an important source of information for Dionysian intelligence to understand Rome. They just couldn't get more concessions than the Carthaginian merchants who had established close ties with Rome.

Rome is somewhat similar to Dionia, and neither is a port city, but is located on the middle of a large river. But the difference is that Rome is farther from the coast, more than 40 miles away, so it becomes very difficult for ships to go upstream and enter the city of Rome, so it needs the port of Ostia for the transfer of goods.

Tapirus and his party left Ostia and headed north along the south bank of the Tiber.

By 3:00 p.m., they saw the city of Rome standing in front of them.

"...Rome is a city founded by Latins and Sabines 300 years ago. It is said that it was full of tidal flats and swamps at that time, and many surrounding powerful forces looked down on this place, but this does not mean So that the Romans could develop silently and steadily, it was invaded by foreign enemies from time to time.

The Etruscans once ruled it, the Gauls destroyed its cities, the Volsci, the Eques, the Sabines, and even the Latin Confederation of the Romans... and other forces have all defeated it one after another. But the Romans gradually grew stronger through constant setbacks and wars, and until today, it has become the most powerful city-state in central Italy..."

When Tapirus heard these words from King Davos, he felt deeply that the ruler of Dionysus respected Rome, and at the same time made him feel that there were so many around The hostile Rome can still grow to this point, the Romans must be a tough and tenacious race!

Tapirus watched the city of Rome more and more clearly with interest,

While searching for information about it from memory.

Rome is known as the city of seven hills, because there are seven hills in the city, all of which are concentrated at the bend of the Tiber River. Because of such a series of river bends that firstly faces west, then eastward, and then turns westward, once floods occur in the rainy seasons of spring and summer, depressions are easily formed here, so the first Romans lived among these hills. superior……

The Roman city that Tapirus now sees is a new city. It was built on the ruins by the Romans after the Gauls were driven out ten years ago. It is said that the Romans only took a year to build it. Well, can a big city be built in such a hurry? !

As a result, Tapirus was surprised to find that the Roman city wall standing in front of him was not at all straight and straight like the city wall of Turienne, the wall was smooth, but curved, and the bricks and rocks were irregular and disordered. Pieces together, so the walls are rough, the gaps are large, and even protrude outwards. Of course, the city wall is high enough, so it can also be judged that the wall is thick enough, otherwise such a bad wall will not be able to support it...

Of course, this is only Tapirus' personal opinion. More professional people are hidden in his messenger group. They will quietly and carefully observe the city, from military, political, commercial, social... Record the situation in Rome and the surrounding areas in detail, and after summarizing the information, go back and report it to King Davos.

In fact, what Tapirus didn't know was that the city of Rome was in ruins seven years earlier, after Camilus had driven out the Celts. The people of Rome debated the question of "Should we move this city, which has suffered from the curse of the gods? Or rebuild the new city from the ruins?", and finally had to hold a citizens' assembly to vote.

Just as the voting was about to begin, a centurion who had become a hero in the previous battle brought the flag-bearer to the stage and suddenly shouted: "Stop, put up the flag, this is the best place. The location of the city!"

His words were immediately supported by many former comrades-in-arms. Immediately, Camelus and several other venerable elders quickly announced with a devout attitude: This is a divine omen!

And the citizens, who had in fact been fed up and agitated by the long debate, quickly turned their moods under the guidance of their trusted senators, everyone cheered and demanded that Rome be rebuilt here .

In order not to waste the enthusiasm of the people who were finally incited, resulting in another accident, the construction of the city was quickly launched. Since there is basically no normal division between planning and construction, the construction process is completely arbitrary or convenient, so whether it is a city wall , or private buildings were built quite badly, but the speed was guaranteed, and the reconstruction of the city of Rome was completed within a year, and it is conceivable how effective it was.

If it weren't for the "Celtic occupation of Rome" event that gave the Romans a painful memory, coupled with the years of war, the Romans would have repeatedly repaired their city defenses during the slack season in the past few years to ensure the urban area. safety of the people. Otherwise Tapirus had come to Rome five years ago, and he would have seen the wall in an even worse condition.

There was already a long line in front of the city gate entering the city from the west of Rome, and Tapirus and his party did not stand in front of the city guard until dusk.

The Roman city guard looked at Tapirus standing in front of him and the entourage behind him in surprise: "Are you messengers from Dionia?"

After listening to the translation of his followers, Tapirus said calmly and loudly: "Yes, I am under the order of King Dionia to come to Rome to discuss important matters!"

The city guard no longer hesitated, and said to another soldier next to him: "Go and call Minusius!"

After a while, he saw a young man in full military uniform with a red cap and tassel on the top of his helmet coming out of the city. After listening to the city guard's narration, he was also surprised: Dionysus, that is the same as Carthage. Ki equally powerful kingdom! What did its messengers come to Rome for? !

With this doubt, Minusius stepped forward and said in fluent Greek, "I am the chief guard of Rome, Minusius. Are you an envoy from the Kingdom of Dionia?"

"I am Dionia's diplomat, Tapirus, with the important mission of the kingdom, to discuss with the Roman Senate." Tapirus saluted.

"Rome welcomes you, honorable messenger of the Kingdom of Dionia!" Minusius smiled and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for a long time. During this time, our citizens of Rome are cooperating with the invading Wall. To fight in the west, another army went to quell the rebellion of Tusculon. In order to prevent the enemy from attacking, the Senate ruled, 'Only the Roman people are allowed to enter and leave the city gate.'"

Tapirus understood this.

Minusius led them through the gate.

After entering the city of Rome, Tapirus discovered that his previous judgment was not wrong, not only the city walls were crooked, but also the high and low, large and small houses in the city were also the bad results of rushing to build a big city within a year. . These houses, which have definitely not been planned as a whole, are growing like wild grass on the ground, making the streets narrow and crooked, rubbish piled up indiscriminately, sewage on the ground, and the air is filled with a strange odor, and you may step on excrement and urine if you are not careful. ...

Minusius frowned when he saw Tapirus and the others, and some even covered their noses. How could he not understand what the problem was.

He explained with a blushing face: "More than ten years ago, the Celts invaded our city. When we drove them away, we found that our Roman city had been destroyed by them. When rebuilding the city, However, we encountered the betrayal of allies and the invasion of the enemy. Our main energy was spent on how to repel the enemy. Therefore, we did not have enough time and wealth to rebuild the various urban areas. We had to let the people solve it by themselves, so it has become like this...

A few years ago, the Senate had also made a resolution to widen the roads in each block, but the wars that happened every year made us really unable to spare time... Even this time, we couldn't spare enough time. Manpower to take away the garbage in the city..."

Tapirus expressed his understanding on the surface, but disagreed in his heart. He believed that such a bad inner city environment reflects the Romans' inadequacy in urban planning and their indifference to the lives of the people. If there were so many densely spaced and crooked houses in Turii, the officials of the Ministry of Construction would have sent people to forcibly demolish them, because it would lead to insecurity in the city, causing house collapses and fires… …and many more. And those houses that overcrowd the streets will not only be demolished by road bureau officials under the Ministry of Construction, but their owners will also be heavily fined because it encroaches on the public interest...