Chapter 10 The City of 7 Hills - Rome! (2)

However, it seems that the Roman people have long been accustomed to such a living environment. Pedestrians who come and go are crowded on the narrow streets, all busy with their own lives, but the expressions on their faces are a little calm, neither disgusted by this The bad environment and the two wars going on in Rome were not worried. This open-minded state of mind was somewhat similar to that of the Turians in the Kingdom of Dionia.

Minusius led them around a street, and the vision in front of them was much wider. You could see a low hill lying in front of them, which was also densely covered with houses, and many Roman people dressed in ordinary clothes had solemn expressions. to and fro between the hills.

"That is the Raventing Hill, one of the seven hills in the city of Rome." Minusius saw Tapirus looking at it carefully, and was busy introducing: "It is said that one of the two builders of Rome, the younger brother of Romulos Remus once lived on this mountain with his tribe. Now in the center of the mountain there is a temple of Diana built by our former king Servius. Diana is the goddess of hunting among our Latins. The protector of herdsmen. King Servius once made a rule, 'As long as you fear this goddess, whether you are a Roman citizen or not, you can come here to worship.' If it weren't for the war during this time, you would be Seeing the Latin tribal people from the surrounding areas of Rome come here every day to worship, it will become very lively on the Raventin Hill, but very noisy..."

Scipio said complacently, with the pride of "Rome is the center of the Latins" on his face.

Tapirus nodded politely, but did not speak.

The group followed the road and turned north.

The streets here were originally quite spacious, but the streets were full of Roman people who set up stalls. All kinds of noisy hawking and bargaining made the crowded Tapirus feel a little irritable, but during the war in the city of Rome There is still a strong breath of life, which also makes them feel very surprised.

"Where is the arena?" An entourage asked with a finger to the left.

Through the gap in the crowd, you can see a huge circular building standing in front of the messenger group. The shape of this building makes the messenger group too familiar.

"Yes, this is our Roman Colosseum!" Minusius exclaimed: "We Romans often hold sports competitions in it, and gladiator competitions, which are most popular among the people!  …"

Hearing this, Tapirus' face showed a bit of disgust, because he had learned in advance from the materials in the Turii library about the gladiator games that Minusius said, which was for Roman prisoners of war. Or the slaves fought bloody battles in the arena with crude weapons, exchanging their blood and screams for the joy of the Roman people watching the game...

Tapirus, who was a slave, believes that this is not a game, but a bloody game that is brutal and backward!

When passing the arena,

The messenger group also heard shouting from inside.

An entourage pretended to be curious and asked, "Is there a gladiator match going on in the arena?"

Minusius shook his head and said intentionally or unintentionally: "There is military training for underage Roman citizens. Although most of the young and middle-aged citizens in Rome are now going out to fight, once an enemy strikes, we can still summon many people around us. The Roman citizens of the colony came to the rescue without worrying about the safety of the city of Rome. But let the Romans get used to holding a shield and spear from an early age, and when they grow up, they can face the enemy bravely and have the ability to kill the enemy. Familiar with Roman formations and tactics, when the city-state needs them to fight, they can quickly integrate into the army... So we Romans are not afraid of any strong enemy!"

Hearing this, Tapirus was shocked: this practice is very similar to the practice of Dionysian children to undergo military training from an early age.

His eyes touched an entourage behind him, who was an official sent by the Ministry of Military Affairs, I believe he had a deeper feeling.

But what the Dionian envoys did not know was that it was a Roman tradition to let Roman children receive military training from an early age, but it only began in the past ten years to let them practice Roman combat methods and tactics from an early age.

Ten years ago, Rome was devastated by the Gauls on the banks of the Aria, and eventually occupied by the Gauls. This painful lesson made the Romans realize the inadequacy of their own fighting methods. After some investigation and reflection, the dictator Camillous carried out military reforms on the Roman army.

He learned the tactics of the Celts. First, he changed the Roman army's previous large phalanx formation similar to that of Greece into multiple small phalanxes (ie squadrons). One legion had 50 squadrons, which could carry out separate assaults, which made the former bloated and clumsy. The Roman legions had more flexibility and mobility.

Secondly, the principles of the configuration of warriors in the legion were changed. The military tradition of the wealthy, well-equipped citizens at the front and poorer citizens at the back is now lined up by age and level of training. The first column is for young people, the second column is for prime-aged soldiers, and the third column is for veterans with combat experience.

Third, the weapons of the soldier's offense and defense have been improved. Iron helmets replaced leather helmets, leather long shields replaced wooden shields, iron spear heads replaced bronze spear heads, and leather breastplates were mostly replaced by chain mail... Of course, the assistance of Carthage played a role in this. It played a big role, allowing many poor soldiers to use the standard equipment allocated by the Senate, thus expanding the source of soldiers, which of course had to be returned after the war.

Fourth, it emphasizes the need to build a strong and comfortable camp when going out to fight...

Although traditional Roman military tactics have been practiced for hundreds of years, once the Romans, who had been growing up in battle, found that this kind of military reform was beneficial to their combat, they quickly began to implement them, and almost all adults, from adult citizens to children, were scrambling for all the spare space. Time to train to get familiar with new gear and tactics early, and it's already starting to have noticeable effects. Over the years, Rome has almost maintained a complete victory in the battle against surrounding forces.

Due to Davos' attention, the Dionysian Military Department also had an understanding of the current military system in Rome. They were surprised to find that these military reforms of the Romans were very similar to the military tactics of the Dionysian heavy infantry. They all believed that the Romans must have learned the tactics of Dionia by stealth. This time, one of the purposes of sending officials into the messenger group was to witness the Roman army with their own eyes.

After passing the Grand Arena and heading north, the situation in the neighborhood has changed again. Not only are the roads really wide, but there is less rubbish. Even the house has become luxurious. Although there are still simple houses interspersed, the arrangement of the houses is still somewhat disordered, but the number of large houses with red bricks and white walls has increased significantly, especially the two not far from the north and south sides of the road are not too high and seem to be large in size. But there are more such dwellings on large hills.

An envoy official from the Dionysian Household Registration Department pretended to be curious and asked, "Is this a rich area?"

Minusius heard the meaning of his words: It used to be a slum area full of garbage and a bad environment. This is a wealthy area with a good environment and good housing. The gap between the poor and the rich in the city of Rome is so obvious? !

He replied tactfully: "Every city-state has poor and rich, and there is always conflict between the poor and the rich. It is inevitable, and Rome is the same. But the difference is that Roman people quarrels are quarrels, once citizens quarrel. The General Assembly has passed the resolution, and we will work together to complete it together..."

Having said that, he looked at the hills on both sides of the road and said seriously: "Not all the rich people live on these two hills, but most of them are the earliest builders of Rome and early Citizen clan, they once contributed more to the city-state, and now they are also willing to sacrifice more people for the city-state!"

Minusius pointed to the hill on the left: "This is Mount Partini. Romulus, the founder of the city of Rome, our original king, lived on this hill from the very beginning with the people who followed him."

Then he points to the hill to the right: "This is Mount Silio. 200 years ago it was the center of our Latins - Alba Longa was defeated by us Rome, and its inhabitants were not taken prisoners, but invited , emigrated to this mountain, and became a Roman citizen!"

Tapirus keenly sensed the pride in Minusius when he spoke, and subconsciously asked, "Where does your family live?"

Minusius seemingly casually pointed to the Palatine Hill on the left, but in fact he did not tell the Dionysian his full name: Minusius Cornelius Scipio . Cornelius is the name of the Roman clan, which is the noble of the Roman aristocracy and the wealthy of the wealthy.

Tapirus clearly felt this, too, the smiling, fluent Greek, elegantly worded young man inadvertently exuding an air of nobility.

In the Dionysian kingdom, there are of course some nobles, who all joined when Dionia conquered the neighboring city-states, and some even retained part of the land wealth and entered the senate. However, under the strict control of King Davos and the laws of Dioria, they do not have much power, and the kingdom can basically treat nobles and commoners, old citizens and new citizens equally. Slaves like Ruth can also gain wealth and power through their own efforts.

It is precisely because of the short time of the establishment of the Kingdom of Dionia and the fairness that Davos strongly promoted that Tapirus could hardly feel the difference of class in the country, and it was just when he first dispatched foreign countries. Today, he felt it, so he suddenly felt a sense of discomfort that he didn't want to talk to this young man.